;ilttavt| oi §on^xt^$J 




unitp:d states of aivIebica. 



0. 



l4. 




f' 








TIIRt3-i:^ & CMIILI 



INTew Yoxk, D & J . Sadlier . 



=<i^\. >. 



A 
SHORT TREATISE 

ON THE 

ROSARY; 

TOGETHER WITH 

SIX REASONS FOR BEING DEVOUT 

TO THE 

BLESSED VIRGIN; 

ALSO 

TRUE DEVOTION TO HER. 

BY J. M. P. HEANEY, 

A PRIEST OP THE ORDER OF ST. DOMINIO. 



TO WHICH ARE APPENDED ST. FRANCIS OF SALES' "DEVOUT 
METHOD OF HEARING MASS;" "THE MEMORARE," ACCOM- 
PANIED WITH SOME REMARKS; THE STATIONS, OR HOLY 
WAY OF THE CROSS, &C., &C. 



Superiotuiu J^acultate. 

NEW YORK: 
D. & J. SADLIER & CO., 31 BARCLAY-ST 

BOSTON— 128 FEDERAL-STREET. 
MONTREAL— COR. NOTRE-DAME AND ST. FRANCIS XAVIER STS. 

1863. 




/ F- /P^\ 






A PEOTEST. 

In obedience to the decrees of the Pontiff, Urban the 
Eighth, of blessed memory, I protest that I do not intend 
to attribute any other than purely human authority to 
all the miracles, graces, incidents, and revelations con- 
tained in this little book ; neither to the titles Holy or 
Blessed applied to the Servants of God yet uncanonized ; 
excepting in cases vrhere these have been confirmed by 
the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and by the Apostolic 
See, of which I profess myself an obedient son. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, 

By J. M. P. HEANEY, 

Id the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the 

Southern District of New York. 

% 3 r^'^i^' 



RENNIE. SHEA & LINDSAY, QEORGK W. WOOD, Pk.htkk, 

Sterbotypbrs and Ele«botyp.m, ^^ J Dutch^t. N. Y. 

81, 83 & 85 Centre-atreet, 
Nbw York. 



TO THE 

CATHOLICS OF THIS COUNTRY, 

ARE MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 

BY THE AUTHOE, 

WHO DESIRES THEM TO UNITE WITH HIM IN PRAYING FOR THE 
CONVERSION" OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 



CONTENTS 



A Protest 4 

Dedication 5 

To the Reader 9 

PART I. 

A SHOET TREATISE 0^ THE ROSARY. 

I. The Word Rosary 17 

II. The Institution of the Rosary 18 

III. Its Propagation 20 

IV. Its Component Parts 21 

V. The division of the Mysteries 22 

VI. A laudable Method used by many in saying 

the Mysteries 23 

VII. The Essential Parts of the Rosary 25 

VIII. The Essential Method 25 

IX. Laudable Practices in reciting the Rosary ... 26 
X. Principal Obligations of the members of the 

^■. Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary . . 27 

XI. The Excellence of the Rosary 29 

XII. The Excellence of the Rosary — (continued). — 

The Lord's Prayer 31 

XIII. The Excellence of the Rosary — {continued). — 

Its principal prayer, the Angelical Salu- 
tation 33 

XIV. The Excellence of the Rosary — [continued).,. 42 
XV. The distinguishing title the Church gives to 

the Rosary 44 

XVI. The testimony of several Sovereign Pontiffs in 

reference to its admirable fruits .44 

XVII. The great advantages of belonging to the Con- 
fraternity of the Most Holy Rosary 49 



b CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

XVIII. Its Indiilorences 55 

XIX. Aliracles T 64 

XX. Miracles of the Rosarv, or its wonderful effects. 65 
XXL Ciiastisement of a notorious caliunniator of the 

Rosarv 75 

XXII. It only takes about ten minutes to recite the 

five Decades 78 

XXin. 2s o one ought to be ashamed to sav it, or to 

get enrolled in the Coniratemitv 80 

XXIV. In this age of Indifferentism, the Rosary is not 

snjficiently known 83 

XXV. The Rosary ought to be devontly recited 84 

XX VI. Recapitulation and Conclusion 85 

Solemn Reception of a person into the Confraternity . 90 
Days on which the members of the Rosary, receiving 

Communion, obtain a Plenary Indulgence 92 

PART n. 

SIX EEASOXS FOR BEING DEVOUT TO THE 
BLESSED VIRGIX. 

First Reason 95 

Second Reason 107 

Third Reason 115 

Fonrth Reason 1'24 

Plfth Reason 128 

SixthReason 132 

PART III. 

True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin 141 

The Memorare, accompanied with some remarks .... 16S 

St. Francis de Sales' Devout Method of hearing Mass . 1 73 

Contemplations and Prayers of the Rosary 186 

Stations, or the Holy T^ay of the Cross 201 

Prayer for Union, and for increase of Missionaries. . . 2S1 
St. Liguori's Praver to the Blessed Virgiu for a happv 

death .' '. 232 



I 



TO THE READER. 



I WISH to begin this Introduction in the same 
manner as St. Liguori does his '' Glories of Mary.'' 
The great Saint says, addressing his reader : '' My 
dear reader and brother in Mary, since the devotion 
which urged me to write, and now induces you to 
read this book, renders us both happy children of 
this good Mother, if you should ever hear any one 
say that I could have spared this labor, there being 
so many and celebrated works which treat of this 
subject, answer him, I beseech you, in the words of 
Francone the Abbot.'' These are his words : '^ The 
praise of Mary is a fountain so full, that the more 
it extends the fuller it becomes, and the fuller it be- 
comes the more it extends ;" '^ which signifies," says 
the Saint, '^ that the Blessed Virgin is so great and 
sublime, that the more we praise her the more there 
is to praise. So that St. Augustine says : 'All the 
tongues of men, even if all their members were 
changed into tongues, would not suffice to praise 
her as she deserves.' " And this most illustrious 



10 TO THE READEE. 

Father of the Church also asserts that all we may 
say m her praise is httle in comparison with what 
she merits on account of her dignity as Mother of 
God. Our Holy Mother the Church also, in the 
Mass of the Divine Mother, requires these words to 
be read : ''For thou art happy, 'sacred Virgin 
Mary, and most worthy of all praise." Now, if 
nothing else, at least the Church ought to remove 
from us all fear of exaggerating the praises of Mary, 
inasmuch as she requiiTS the above words to be 
said in . the Holy Sacrifice at the Altar. And if 
there be any creatui^e in the universe most worthy 
of all praise, undoubtedly it is the Immaculate 
Mother of God. 

It is true, at the present time, that there are 
many works which treat of Devotion to the Blessed 
Tirgin. Some of these are too voluminous and too 
ex]Densive. I have therefore endeavored to make 
this book small, yet comprehensive, in order that 
every Catholic, or at least every Cathohc family, 
might be able to procure a copy. 

Teiy many persons in the present century are 
opposed to voluminous works, because they have 
not the patience to read what they deem unneces- 
sary matter, somethnes to be found in those pon- 
derous tomes. 

This work is divided into three parts. The First 
Part embraces a short treatise on the Rosary. A 
great portion of this treatise is extracted from two 



TO THE READER. 11 

small Dominican works, written in French, on the 
Rosary. The division of this little treatise is some- 
what similar to Cardinal Lambruschini^s treatise on 
the. Immaculate Conception. 

The Second Part treats of Six Reasons for being 
devout to the Holy Mother of God. 

The Third Part treats of True Devotion to the 
Divine Mother. It is styled True Devotion to the 
B. Virgin, in order to distinguish true from false 
Devotion to her. We cannot be truly devout to 
her unless we desire to amend our lives, faithfully 
honor, and commend ourselves to her. But True 
Devotion to Mary will be more fully explained when 
we come to the Third Part. In this discourse 
there will be found quotations from some of the 
most learned and saintly men of almost every age 
of the Christian era, regarding the Immaculate 
Mother of God. 

My dear reader, if you discover in this little book 
that some of the propositions seem to be objection- 
able, I beseech you, in the same manner in which 
St. Liguori does his reader, to consider them as 
meant and spoken by me according to the sense of 
true and sound theology and of the Holy Catholic 
Church. 

*' Worldly lovers are accustomed,'' says St. Ligu- 
ori, '' to mention frequently and to praise the per- 
sons beloved, that these may also be praised and 
applauded by others ; then how poor must we sup- 



12 TO THE READER. 

pose the love of those to be who boast of being 
lovers of Mary, but who seldom remember to speak 
of her, and inspire the lore of her also in others ! 
Not so the true lovers of our most lovely lady ; 
they would praise her everywhere, and see her loved 
by all the world ; and therefore in public and pri- 
vate, and wherever it is in their power, they strive 
to enkindle in the hearts of all, those blessed flames 
of love with which theirs are burning for their be- 
loved Queen/^ 

That every one may be persuaded of how 
great benefit it is to himself and the people to pro- 
mote devotion to Mary, let us hear what some of 
the Fathers say of it. St. Bonaventure asserts that 
those who are devoted to publishing the glories of 
Mary are secure of Paradise. ''And is there any 
one ignorant of the promise made by Mary to those 
who are engaged in promoting the knowledge and 
love of her upon the earth ? ' They who explain me 
shall have life everlastmg,' as the Holy Church ap- 
phes it on the Festival of her Immaculate Concep- 
tion.'' 

Mary appeared, before his death, to a certain 
Dominican, who was wont to end his sermons by 
speaking of her. She defended him from the as- 
saults of Satan, consoled him, and bore away with 
her his happy soul. The devout Thomas a Kempis 
represents Mary as commending to her Son those 
who publish her praises, m these words : '' my Son, 



1 



TO THE READER. 13 

have compassion on the souls of thy lovers, and 
of those who speak in my praise/' 

*'As far as the advantage of the people is con- 
cerned, St. Anselm asserts that the sacred womb of 
Mary iiaving been made the way of salvation for 
sinners, sinners cannot but be converted by dis- 
courses in praise of Mary. We know that St. Ber- 
nardine of Sienna sanctified Italy ; St. Dominic 
converted many provinces ; St. Louis Bertrand, in 
all his sermons, never failed to exhort his hearers 
to practise devotion towards Mary ; and many 
others also have done the same." St. Liguori 
himself asserts that the salvation of all depends 
upon preaching Mary, and confidence in her inter- 
cession. — Introduction to the ^^ Glories of Mary P 

This book, with the exception of a great portion 
of the treatise upon the Rosary and some other ex- 
ceptions, may be considered a manual of extracts 
for the edification of the faithful. But remember, 
dear reader, it is better, as a general thing, to have 
the authority of some saintly and learned pereon in 
speaking of the Divine Mother, than to express our 
own ideas about her. And if you read the '' Glories 
of Mary,'' by St. Liguori, — my standard author, — 
you will find that that work is filled with extracts. But 
what I wish to call your especial attention to is this : 
sometimes persons are enraptured with the original 
ideas of others, that is, those persons are of the 
opinion that the ideas are original ; but lo I when 
2 



14 TO THE READER. 

they are perusing the works of the Holy Fathers, 
or of some other celebrated authors, they are soon 
disabused of their erroneous opinion, for then they 
find that the ideas which they deemed original are pre- 
cisely the same as those in these celebrated works. 
And therefore, dear reader, is it not better to tell 
the public that these ideas which are presented to 
them are not original, than to palm upon them the 
ideas of others as if they were our own ? 

I now return my sincere thanks to my kind 
friends for theu' wise and excellent suggestions, and 
for their great assistance in preparing this little 
work. I do not wish to mention any one in par- 
ticular, but I shall endeavor to remember all in 
general, from time to time, when I am celebrating 
the Holy Sacrifice at the Altar ; and also, some- 
times, I shall endeavor to commend them to the 
protection of the Divine Mother. 

I shall now conclude this Introduction in these 
beautiful words of the good Father Gallifet, of the 
illustrious Society of Jesus. ^' Loaded from my 
youth with thy benefits, august Queen of Heav- 
en, nothing shall be dearer to my heart, after the 
glory of thy Son, than thy honor. This desire, so 
holy and so just, thou hast not ceased to inspire me 
with through life, and under its influence I have 
composed this httle work, which I now lay at thy 
feet. Take it under thy protection, best of Moth- 
ers : I shall die content in leaving after me this 



TO THE READER. 15 

little testimony of my love and of the immense 
gratitude I owe thee, and I shall have reached the 
summit of my wishes if it in any degree contribute 
to increase and perfect tJiat true devotion which is 
thy due." 

St. Dominic's Convent, Benicia, California, 
Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord, 1863. 




The Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary. 



A SHORT TREATISE 

ON THE 

ROSARY. 



I. The Word Rosary. 

The name Rosary is derived from the Latin 
word Rosarium^ which literally signifies a 
crown of roses J it also signifies a place plant- 
ed with roses. Truly, a name so beautiful is 
a fitting title for the Devotion of the Rosary, 
for it is a spiritual garden of blooming roses ; 
and it is a mystical crown of beautiful roses, 
adorning with transcendent brilliancy the peer- 
less brow of the Most Holy Mother of God. 
And as the rose is the most beautiful of flow- 
ers, excelling all others in the chaste purity of 
its color, its delightful fragrance, and the 
medicinal qualities it possesses, Mary very ele- 
gantly and appropriately compares herself to 
it in these words : '' I was exalted .... as a 
rose-plant in Jericho" (Ecclus. xxiv. 18). 
2* 



18 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

The Ancient Fathers of the Church, and 
learned commentators of the Holy Bible, after 
explaining the passage of Ecclesiasticus, in 
what is called the literal sense, apply it, in 
what is called the mystical sense, to the Most 
Holy Mother of God. 

Mary was the " rose" that, after the long and 
dreary winter of sin, sorrow, and desolation, in- 
dicated by her bloom the coming of the sum- 
mer of grace, light, and consolation. In that 
sense she is called in the Litany of Loretto, the 
" Mystical Eose." 

" The Rosary takes its name from the rose,'' 
says a certain writer; "its manifold repeti- 
tions, its beautiful remembrances of the sweet 
mysteries of our Redemption, are like a wreath 
of roses, grateful to God and refreshing to the 
soul." 

n. The Institution of the Rosary. 

That the Institution of the Most Holy Ro- 
sary was truly the work of Heaven, cannot be 
doubted after the testimony of several Sov- 
ereign Pontiffs, especially of St. Pius the Fifth. 
A certain and constant tradition teaches us 
this. The great St. Dominic — the founder of 
the Dominican Order — received the Rosary 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 19 

from the hands of the glorious Virgin Mary 
herself. 

Previous to the time of its Institution, there 
existed a custom of saying a certain number 
of prayers by means of globules, or little stones 
strung together. But this was not the Rosary, 
properly so called. The number of these glob- 
ules or little stones was not generally deter- 
mined, but left to the discretion of each one. 
St. Dominic iirst chose a fixed number of one 
hundred and fifty beads for the " Hail Marys." 

The authors of his life inform us that the 
Rosary was revealed to him as a most effectual 
means of counteracting the abuses of the Albi- 
genses and other heretics of his time. The 
Albigenses had overrun a great portion of 
France, and placed the religion of Christ in 
most imminent danger. Dominic, having 
consecrated himself to win them back to the 
True Faith, found all his efforts fruitless, de- 
spite the knowledge, the sanctity, and the gift 
of miracles with which our Most Blessed Lord 
favored him. At length, the Blessed Yirgin 
appeared to the Saint one day, when he was 
fervently invoking her aid. She presented 
the Rosary to him, and thus addressed him : 
"Know, my son, that the Angelical Saluta- 



20 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

tion is the means employed by the Most Holy 
Trinity for the regeneration of the world. This 
prayer is the foundation of the new alliance. 
Do you wish to gain for God these hardened 
hearts ? Preach it, then, according to the 
form which I taught you several years ago." 
And added she : " Unless this celestial dew 
enriches the ungrateful soil, it will ever re- 
main unfruitful." Dominic faithfully execu- 
ted the commands of Mary, and not a little 
success immediately accompanied his preach- 
ing. The people were converted ; both faith 
and piety flourished in renewed vigor. 

Note. — Tlie BoUandists question whether St. Dominic 
instituted the Rosaiy ; but that he was its institutor is 
asserted by several of the Sovereign Pontiffs, and is proved 
by the constant tradition of the Dominican Order. Father 
Echard also adduces several other irrefragable arguments. 

III. Its Propagation. 

The Rosary was propagated, with admirable 
success, by the holy institutor himself, and by 
the zealous members of the Order which he had 
founded. Wherever it spread, heresy had to 
hide its head, and the spirit of fervor and piety 
was aroused among the faithful of God. The 
sons of St. Dominic extended it throughout 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 21 

Christendom, for the mission of propagating it, 
is their special charge. They received tliis holy 
heritage from their Father; and the Church 
has especially confided to them the care of pre- 
serving, defending, and propagating it, mitil 
the end of time. 

TV. Its Component Parts. 

The Rosary consists in reciting, in honor of 
the Queen of Heaven, one hundred and fifty 
times, the Angelical Salutation, or, as it is com- 
monly called, the " Hail Mary." These " Hail 
Marys" are divided into fifteen decades, each 
one of which commences with " Our Father," 
and terminates with the Doxology, or the 
'' Glory be to the Father," &c., &c. 

The Angelical Salutation, being repeated ten 
times, is the reason why that portion of the 
Rosary is called a decade — the word decade 
signifying the sum or number of ten. Some 
writers on the subject infer that the Angelical 
Salutation is said ten times to correspond with 
the '' ten strings" of King David's harp, and 
they draw this inference from the second verse 
of the thirty-second Psalm: ''Give praise to 
Lord on the harp ; sing to Him with the Psal- 
tery, the instrument of ten strings." 



22 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

The " Hail Mary" is said one hundred and 
fifty times, to correspond with the one hundred 
and fifty Psahns of the Royal Prophet ; and 
the Rosary is called by some the Psalter of the 
Blessed Virgin Mary, as the book of Psalms is 
called the " Psalter of David." 

V. The Division of its Mysteries. 

Each decade is accompanied by a meditation 
on one of the principal Mysteries in the life of 
our Lord, and of His Immaculate Mother. These 
Mysteries are divided into three equal parts, 
each one of which is called a Chaplet, or Part. 

The Mrst Part represents the five Joyful ' 
Mysteries, which are : 1st. The Annunciation. 
2d. The Visitation. 3d. The Nativity of our 
Lord. 4:th. The Presentation of our Saviour 
in the Temple. 5th. The Finding of the Child 
Jesus in the Temple. 

The Second Part contains the five Sorrowful 
Mysteries, which are: 1st. The Praj'Cr and 
Bloody Sweat of our Lord in the Garden. 2d. 
The Scourging at the Pillar. 3d. The Crown- 
ing with Thorns. 4th. The Carrying of the 
Cross. 5th. The Crucifixion of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ. 



^TREATISE ON THE EOSARY. 23 

The Third Part represents the five Glorious 
Mysteries, which are: 1st. The Resurrection. 
2d. ,The Ascension. 3d. The Descent of the 
Holy Ghost upon the Disciples, ith. The As» 
sumption of the Divine Mother into Heaven. 
5th. The Coronation and Exaltation of Mary 
above all the Angels and Saints. 

VI. A Laudable Method used by many ik 
SAYING THE Mysteries. 

It is a very good practice, used by many, 
while we are saying the Angelical Salutation, 
to express the mystery itself upon which we 
meditate, in the middle of it, immediately af- 
ter the Holy Name of Jesus. For example, in 
saying the First Joyful Mystery, let the Aves 
be recited in this way : " Hail, Mary, full of 
grace, the Lord is with thee ; blessed art thou 
among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy 
womb, Jesus, who was made man for us. Holy 
Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, 
and at the hour of our death. Amen ;" in the 
Second Mystery, instead of saying " who was 
made man for us^^^ say, " who sanctified St. 
John in his Mother'^ s womh for us /" in the 
Third Mystery, ''who was horn m a stable 



24: TREATISE ON THE EOS ART. 

for US ;^'^ in the Fourth, ^^wlio was presented 
in the Teinjple for %is f^ in the Fifth, '-^ who 
was found in the Temple for our instruc- 
tion.^'' 

In the Sorrowful Mysteries, for the First, 
say, " who suffered a hloody sweat for us /" in 
the Second, " who was scourged at the pillar 
for us ;^^ in the Third, ''who was crowned 
with thorns for us f^ in the Fourth, "who 
carried the Cross for us ;^^ in the Fifth, ''who 
was crucified for usP 

In the Glorious Mysteries, for the First, say, 
" who arose from the dead for our justifica- 
tion ^'^^ in the Second, "who ascended into 
Heaven to prepare a place for its y" in the 
Third, " who sent down the Holy Ghost for our 
sanctification /" in the Fourth, " who took 
thee up^ Mary^ into Heaven for our instruc- 
tion ^'^^ in the Fifth, "who crowned thee Queen 
of Heaven for our consolation,^'' 

If we observe this method, when we are say- 
ing the beads, w^e can then, very easily, ac- 
company the decade, with the meditation upon 
the corresponding Mystery — an absolute con- 
dition in order to gain the Indulgences of the 
.Rosary — (as it shall be proved, when we speak 
of the principal obligations of the members- of 



TREATISE ON THR ROSARY. 25 

tlie Confraternity of the Most Holy Kosary). 
And this method will serve very much to ex- 
cite our aflections, since, after expressing what 
was done in each Mystery, we add that it wi^ 
done for us, or for our consolation, &c., ac- 
cording as the Mystery itself requires or ad- 
mits. 

Note. — It is a very laudable custom to say the five Joy- 
ful Mysteries on Mondays and Thursdays, and upon Sun- 
days of Advent, and after Epiphany until Lent ; to say the 
Sorrowful, upon Tuesdays and Fridays, and upon Sundays 
in Lent ; and the Glorious on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 
and on Sundays from Easter until the first Sunday of Ad- 
vent. 



VII. The Essential Parts of teie Rosary. 

The essential point, if the entire Rosary is to 
be said, is to recite the " Our Father" fifteen 
times, the ''Hail Mary" one hundred and fifty 
times, and, also, the Doxology fifteen times. 
No other prayer is strictly prescribed before or 
after these. 



VIII. The Essential Method. 

The essential method, in saying the Eosary, 
is to recite, in the first place, the Lord's Pray- 
3 



26 TREATISE OX THE PwOSARY. 

er ; then, the Angelical Salutation, ten times ; 
then, terminate the decade with the Doxoloofv, 
never forgetting to accompany it — the decade 
— ^yith the meditation upon the coiTesponding 

' • ysterj. 

IX. The Latdable Peactices ex EEcrrrN'G 

THE EOSAEY. 

It is permitted to add other prayers to those 
which compose the substance of the Eosary, 
but they must not, however, cause us to 
wander from its essential parts. Tlie practice 
of commencing the Eosary with the Apostles' 
Creed and three '• Hail Marys," though laud- 
able and in use among many, is of no obligation. 

Also the practice of commencing to say the 
beads with one *' Hail Mary," and *' Thou^ O 
Lord^ icilt ojpen my lips^'' i:c., and with "77i- 
cline to ray aid. God. Lordr (tc, al- 
though very commendable^ and in use among 
many persons in this country, is not of obliga- 
tion. 

Also the practice of reciting before and after 
each Mystery, the consideration and aspira- 
tions to be found in many prayer-books, is not 
of any obligation. 

But what maybe deemed the most laudable 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 27 

of these practices is, to terminate the Rosary 
with the ^^Ilail^ Holy Queen^^ &c., "Pray for' 
Its, Holy Mother of God,'' &c., and, "0 God, 
ivhose oixly-hegotten Son,'' &c., — i. e., if the five 
Mysteries are only to be said ; but if the fifteen 
are to be recited, then only at the end of them : 
yet there is no obligation of saying any of 
these prayers. 

X. Principal Obligations of the Members 
OF THE Confraternity of the Most Holy 
Rosary. 

All the faithful, of whatever age, sex, con- 
dition, or capacity, have a right to be admit- 
ted. The obligations of the members do not 
bind under the penalty of any sin, either mor- 
tal or venial. 

1st. It is necessary to have one's name en- 
rolled in the Register of an authorized Confra- 
ternity of th*e Rosary. 

These Confraternities exist, with full rights, 
in all the churches of the Order of St. Dom- 
inic. It is necessary for those established else- 
where, and that under the penalty of heing 
null, that they be founded by the authority of 
the Master-General of the Dominican Order, 
or at least with his formal permission. 



28 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

2d. It IS requisite to have the beads blessed 
by a Dominican priest, or by a priest who has 
received the especial faculty ivoxn the Sovereign 
Pontiff, or from the General of the Order of 
St. Dominic. 

3d. It is necessary to recite, at least once a 
weeh^ the entire Rosary^ or the fifteen decades. 
This obligation would not be fulfilled by the 
recital, in one day, of less than one Chaplet, or 
one Part of the Rosary, even though the Ko- 
sary be finished during the w^eek. But the 
Rosary can be divided into three Parts, which 
can be said on difi'erent days. 

4th. It is requisite, during the time in which 
each decade is said, to meditate upon the cor- 
responding Mystery, not precisely in an ex- 
tremely recollected manner, but so as to have 
it present in our minds, in order to derive 
some fruit from it. 

This condition is absolutely necessary to 
gain the Indulgences, according to the Pontiff 
Benedict the Thirteenth, unless sickness^ or an 
extremely defective intellect renders one inca- 
pable of this application. Such are the Prin- 
cipal Obligations. 

The members who add to these practices 
those of Communion, and of being present at 



I 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 29 

the Procession on the first Sunday of the 
month, and on the Festivals of the Blessed 
Virgin; those who approach the Sacraments 
on the day npon which the Church renews the 
memory of some one of the Mysteries of the 
Kosary ; those who frequent the church and 
chapel of the Confraternity, and after visit its 
altar, will show themselves to be more deep- 
ly penetrated with the special spirit which 
should animate them, and will obtain many 
abundant graces. 

XI. The Excellence of the Rosary. 

Let our dissenting brethren smile at Catho- 
lics for reciting the Rosary, but if they would 
only seriously reflect upon the most excellent 
prayers' and considerations of which it is com- 
posed, they would esteem it almost as highly 
as Catholics do. For when we begin to say 
the beads — we now speak of the manner in 
which, at least, many persons in this country 
commence the Rosarj^ — we address the Blessed 
Yirgin in the same language in which she v/as 
addressed by the Archangel Gabriel, and the 
inspired Saint Elizabeth, because we begin the 
Rosary, by saying, '' Hail Mary, full of grace/' 
&c. But after we speak of the excellency of 
8* 



30 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

the Lord's Prayer, we shall then prove the 
great excellence of the " Hail Mary." 

After having said the Angelical Salutation, 
we address Almighty God in the following 
beautiful language : ''Thou, O Lord, wilt open 
my lips; and my tongue shall announce thy 
praise;" and then we say: "Incline unto my 
aid, O God; O Lord, make haste to help me." 
And now what more beautiful prayers can be 
addressed to our Creator ? 

Afterwards we say the Doxology, or the 
" Glory be to the Father," &c., which is an 
act of supreme adoration of the Most Adorable 
Trinity, which is, also, the customary homage 
offered by our Holy Mother the Church to 
the Three Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity. 
What a most excellent act of adoration to our 
bountiful Maker ! 

After the Doxology, we say, ''Alleluia." 
This term means. Praise ye Jehovah^ or. Praise 
God, What a most beautiful word of praise 
and thanksgiving ! 

Note. — "Alleluia" is said at all times, except from 
Septuagesima Sunday until Easter, during wMcli time we 
say : " Praise be to thee, O Lord, King of Eternal Glory." 

After the Alleluia we mention the Mystery 
upon which we are going to reflect, whether it 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 31 

be the Annunciation, or the Nativity of our 
Saviour, or the Crucifixion, or the Glorious 
Resurrection, or the Descent of the Holy 
Ghost upon the disciples, or the Glorious As- 
sumjDtion of the Divine Mother into Heaven. 
What more beautiful Mysteries can we medi- 
tate upon ? And yet not one half of the beau- 
tiful Mysteries of the Eosary are here enu- 
merated. 

XII. The Excellence of the Rosary {con- 
tinued), — The Lord's Prayer. 

After we mention the Mystery, we say the 
" Our Father" — the most perfect and the most 
excellent of all prayers. This divine form of 
prayer was left by Jesus Christ Himself, and 
put into hearts and mouths by Him. 

All other prayers are comprised in it ; all 
the legitimate aspirations of the human heart 
are therein included; and it is an abridgment 
of all we are to hope for or ask of Almighty 
God, as the Apostles' Creed is an abridgment 
of all we are to believe. According to Ter- 
tullian, it is a compend of the Gospel of Christ ; 
and St. Augustine styles it the daily praj^er of 
every Christian, and recommends it as a remedy 



32 TREATISE ON THE EOSARY, 

against the sins of every day. " The Universal 
Church holds it in such high esteem," says 
Father Gahan, '' that it has inserted it in the 
Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to the end 
that all the faithful, united in one body, should 
join together with tbe priest in offering up this 
heavenly address to the Divine Majesty, in the 
name of Jesus Christ, who was author of it, and 
who vouchsafed to dictate the very words it . 
contains. It is composed of a short preface, and 
seven Petitions or Requests, whereof the three 
first directly regard the honor and glory of 
God, and the four last our own good, both for 
oiir souls and bodies, together with the evils 
from which we beg to be delivered." 

One of the commendable features of this 
Prayer is its brevity. Notwithstanding it in- 
cludes all essential petitions, it has the merit of 
being short. Besides, we ought to be confident 
that if we say it devoutly, it is heard by God. 

All of us — rich and poor — are called to the 
same inheritance. We are the brethren of 
Christ, and He reminds us of these truths in 
this Prayer. In the Old Law,^ God was dreaded 
by the people, and they addressed Him as a 
severe jndge. They gloried in being able to 
call Abraham their father. We in the New 



* TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 33 

Law of Grace are the children of God — breth- 
ren of Jesus Christ, and heirs to the Kingdom 
of Heaven. Emboldened by these favors, and 
by the positive directions of Christ himself, we 
can approach Him with confidence, and address 
Him by the endearing name of "Father," of- 
fer up our petitions in that brief and beautiful 
expressive Prayer, and they will ascend like 
incense before His Throne, if we offer them 
as we ought. 

Xin. The Excellence of the Rosary {con- 
tinued) . — Its Principal Prayer. — The 
Angelical Salutation. 

After the Lord's Prayer comes the "Hail 
Mary" — the best and sweetest prayer we can 
say to the Blessed Virgin. It is almost con- 
stantly on the lips and in the heart of every 
good Catholic ; and it is not the less dear to 
him because those who do not take the trouble 
to examine it, would affect to despise it. 

Although we attribute the three parts of 
the Angelical Salutation to three authors, 
still, properly speaking, we are to believe that 
they have but one author — the Holy Spirit — 
and that He merely used the angel Gabriel, 



34 TREATISE ON THE KOSARY. ♦ 

St. Elizabeth, and tlie Church, to pronounce 
and publish them. 

"Whenever an angel was sent to any of the 
Patriarchs and Prophets, he was received by 
them with the greatest honor, as he was, by 
his nature, exalted above them. But when 
Gabriel was sent from Heaven to announce to 
Mary that she was to be the Mother of the 
Messiah, he approached her with respect and 
admiration, and he saluted her in these words, 
" Hail, full of Grace" (Luke, i.) The name 
"Mary" was added by the Church. The 
angel merely said, '' Hail, full of Grace :" by 
the omission of the name, he denotes the dig- 
nity of Mary, and the respect he was bound 
to pay her. It is never customary to address 
any persons of dignified rank by their name; 
they are always addressed by their titles. 
Gabriel was sent as a messenger from God to 
the Blessed Virgin. He knew her dignity, 
and he addressed her, not familiarly by her 
name, but by her title, " full of Grace." These 
words, " Hail, full of Grace," contain a most 
complete eulogium of Mary. She is " full of 
Grace." This cannot be said of any pure crea- 
ture. Men and angels have only received 
grace in part from the Almighty, whereas the 



TREATISE ON THE KOSARY. 85 

Most Holy Mother of God has received a plen- 
itude thereof. 

Gabriel proclaims the closest and the most 
perfect friendship between God and Mary, 
''The Lord is with thee," says he. These 
words signify that God was with her in a more 
intimate and perfect manner than he was, or 
ever will be, with any other creature. The 
Most Adorable Trinity has made of her heart 
the place of His repose, according to the 
chant of our Holy Mother the Church. 

Again, Gabriel announced in her a special 
benediction, the source of an immense joy and 
glory. " Blessed art thou among women." 
This benediction consists in virginal maternity 
and fruitful virginity. Angels are virgins, 
but they have not the gift of fruitfulness : 
women can be mothers, but they lose virginity. 
Mary is Virgin and Mother at the same time. 
When the angel added, "Blessed art thou 
among women,*' he thereby confirmed her 
own prophetic words, as expressed in the in- 
spired canticle, " Behold from henceforth all 
generations shall call me blessed!' (Luke, i.) 

The Church adds the name "Mary," in 
order to make the prayer more intelligible. 
This sweet name has many significations. The 



36 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

most generally adopted is — " Star of the Sea." 
As the ancient mariners steered their ships, and 
gained the port in safety by watching a cer- 
tain star, so in like manner the faithful, sailing 
through the ocean of this life, can weather the 
storm, and obtain refuge in the harbor of eter- 
nal happiness, if he seeks and follows the gui- 
dance of Mary, the " Star of the Sea." This is 
the most popular signification of the name 
''Mary." There is a hymn sung in the Office 
of the Church — it is familiarly known in everj* 
clime throughout the world — it is a favorite 
among the admirers and lovers of music of 
every rank in old Catholic countries. The 
simple peasant joyfully carols it as he returns 
to his home at the setting of the sun, and it is 
called the "Ave Maris Stella — Hail^ Star of 
the Sea^ 

The Ancrelical Salutation is most aOTeeable 
to Mary. She revealed this to St. Mecthildis. 
According to St. Bernard, this prayer is not 
only pleasing to her, but all Paradise thrills 
with joy when it is pronounced. 

The Church, convinced of the great dignity 
and influence of Mary from her intimate con- 
nection with the Incarnate Word, added to 
the words of Gabriel and St. Elizabeth " Holy 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 37 

Mary, Mother of God," &c., and we confident- 
ly repeat the same. We call her holy ; and 
why should we hesitate to do so ? Did not the 
angel sent from Heaven say, that she w^as 
''full of Grace." 

And the "Hail Mary" is one of the best 
prayers we can say to the Blessed Virgin, be- 
cause we implore her to intercede for us now 
— at the time we are reciting it — and at the 
moment we are about to depart this life. If 
there be any time, in which we ought to be- 
seech her to pray for us, it is at the tremen- 
dous hour of our death; because at that time 
we are almost entirely incapable of praying, 
when, perhaps, the stupor caused by mortal 
disease hardly allows the application of our 
thoughts to the greatest of all our concerns — 
the salvation of our immortal souls. And 
when so many demons will encompass us on 
every side ; then they will strive to drag us 
into the unquenchable flames of hell, knowing 
full well if they gain possession of our souls 
at that time, they will possess them forever. 
Oh ! in what a most miserable condition shall 
we not be, if we do not beg of Mary to inter- 
cede for us when we are about to take our 
final departure from this wicked earth, and 
4 



38 TKEATISE Oy THE ROSAET, 

make our appearance at the dread tribunal of 
Jesus Christ. 

"Whenever we repeat these words, ** Hail, 
full of Grace,*' (fee, *• Blessed is the fruit of thy 
womb,'' (fee, we call to mind the Incarnation. 
We repeat the Angelical Salutation ten times 
in each decade of the Eosarv, that the mind, 
by dwelling longer on this great Mystery, 
may be enlightened the better to understand 
it, and the heart may be inflamed the mgre 
with love, in praising God for it. 

The reason why the Angelical Salutation is 
also repeated in the Eosarv more frequently 
than the '' Our Father, '' is because God is our 
Father, but the Blessed Yirgin is our Mother. 
The father of a family is often obliged to use 
severity towards his children ; the part, of a 
mother is generally calm, conciliating, and 
merciful. Interest, above all things, induces 
us, if we are prodigal children, to prefer ad- 
dressing ourselves to our mother. '' The An- 
gelical Salutation is often repeated in the Eo- 
sary,'' says a certain writer, "because, as it 
contains the form of praise for the Incarnation, 
it best suits a devotion instituted to honor the 
principal parts of that great Mystery. . Though 
it be addressed to the Mother of God, with an 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 39 

invocation of her intercession, it is chiefly a 
praise and thanksgiving to the Son, for the di- 
vine mercy in each part of that wonderful 
Mystery." Let no one, then, presume to say 
that we, by repeating the Angelical Salutation 
oftener than the Lord's Prayer in the Rosary, 
honor Mary more than God. 'Tor though 
the ' Hail Mary' be immediately addressed to 
that ever Blessed Yirgin," as it is justly re- 
marked in a certain work, " yet it is evident 
from what we have seen above in explaining 
it, that all the praises therein given to her are 
referred to her Divine Son as the fountain and 
source of all her excellence .... all the praises 
given to the Blessed Virgin in the "^Hail Mary' 
are only offered, because she was the Mother 
of Jesus Christ, and consequently they all be- 
long much more to Him than to her." 

When we address Mary, there is a cautions 
and clear distinction drawn between our man- 
ner of addressing her, and our manner of ad- 
dressing God. Of Him alone we ask grace and 
pardon ; of Mary, we merely ask the assistance 
of her prayers : '' Holy Mary, mother of God, 
pray for us." And why should we not implore 
the aid of this most powerful advocate? God 
has often been influenced in favor of some of 



4:0 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

His creatures by the intercession of others. 
The children of Israel said to Samuel : " Cease 
not to cry to the Lord our God for us, that 
He may save us out of the hands of the Phi- 
listines" (1 Kings, vii.) St. Paul says, in his 
Epistle to the Hebrews, " Pray for us" (xiii., 
18) ; and in his Epistle to the Romans (xv,, 30), 
he beseeches them to aid him by their prayers. 
Now, if the children of Israel, if St. Paul him- 
self, thus valued and solicited the intercession 
of mortals like themselves, how much more 
efficarcious is it not for us to implore the aid 
of the Mother of the great God of heaven 
and earth? And even some of our dissenting 
brethren, from time to time, beg for such and 
such persons to be prayed for; or, in other 
words, that they are going to make them- 
selves mediators between God and such fellow- 
creatures. And that is all Catholics intend 
when they implore Mary and the saints — the 
especial friends of God — to intercede for them. 
Catholics are considered as very great sim- 
pletons by some Protestants, for constantly 
repeating the same prayers in the Rosary. 
Now, provided that the repetition contributes 
to devotion, and never fails to raise our hearts 
to God, what can there be objectionable in 



TREATISE ON THP: ROSARY. 41 

that repetition ? The royal prophet, in the 
one hundred and thirty-fifth psalm, which 
contains twenty-seven verses, repeats these 
words twenty-seven times, " For his mercy 
endureth forever." Is Almighty God offend- 
ed by this great repetition? And, again, all 
the heavenly spirits say, day and night, in 
transports of joy and admiration : " Holy, 
holy, holy is the Lord God of armies!" Is 
Almighty God dis]3leased by this constant 
repetition ? 

Let every one be careful when he is saying 
the Angelical Salutation to pronounce with 
due reverence the most sacred names of Jesub 
and MAjiY. 

We terminate each decade of the Eosary 
with the Doxology. As we commence the 
essential part of the Eosary with the Lord's 
Prayer, in order to show that our intention is 
principally directed to God, so we end it with 
the Doxology, to show that we offer up the 
whole to the glory of the Most Blessed Trinity. 

And now, what more excellent prayers could 
be said than those which are to be found in 
the Rosary ? Let us now recapitulate them : 
" Thou^ Lovd^ wilt open my li/ps : and my 
tongue shall announce thy praise P"^ —" Incline 
4* 



42 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

unto my aid^ God; Lord^ make haste to 
help meP'' — the Lord's Prayer, — the Angelical 
Salutation, — the Doxologj. It is the custom 
of some persons to say the Apostles' Creed, as 
it was before remarked, in commencing the 
Rosary. Now, the foregoing prayers are the 
best and the most ancient in the Church. 

And, again, what more beautiful Mysteries 
can we meditate u23on, than the great Mys- 
teries of man's redemption which the Rosary 
contains ? 

And still there are very many persons who 
sneer at Catholics for saying their beads. Of 
such persons it may be truly asserted, that they 
do not know what they are sneering at. 

XIV. The Excellence of the Rosary {0071- 
tinned^. 

In the fifteenth century, the Rosary having 
been much disturbed by the confused and 
troubled condition of that age. Almighty God 
selected Blessed Alanus, a Dominican of Co- 
logne, to re-establish it in all its original lustre. 
Since that time it has maintained its rank as 
the most known, the most esteemed, the most 
popular and universal of devotions. For it is 



TREATISE ON THE ROSAKY. 43 

adapted to all capacities : to the illiterate as 
well as to the learned ; to the young es weV 
as to the old; to those who are placed in an 
humble station of life as well as to those of an 
exalted one ; to those of defective intellect as 
well as to those of the greatest intellect ; and it 
is a devotion which, since its institution, has 
caused the Almighty to shower down innumer- 
able benedictions upon the human family. 

Sovereign Pontiffs, at different times, gave 
the Rosary their most cheerful approbation. 
And the graces and privileges, with which it 
has pleased them to enrich it, have contributed 
to extend it over the whole earth. 

And the present Supreme Pastor of the 
Church, the saintly Pius the Ninth, is ardently 
attached to this devotion, and the most signifi- 
cant gifts he presents to any of his children, 
who gain access to his presence, are the Rosary 
beads. 

Holy bishops have always, from the time 
the Rosary was instituted, recommended its 
use to their flocks. St. Charles Borromeo, 
archbishop of Milan, ordered the daily use of 
the Rosary in his seminary, and caused the 
erection of the Confraternity in all the parishes 
of his vast archdiocese. 



44 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

Moreover, holy and zealous missionaries 
have always recommended the recitation of 
the Eosary to those who were placed under 
their charge. 

Catholic nations have adopted it with eager- 
ness and aft'ection ; so much so, that it has 
almost become, like the cross, the sign of a 
Catholic. 

XV. The Distixguished Title the Church 

GIVES TO THE RoSARY. 

Tlie Church of Christ has given a most dis- 
tinguishing title to the Eosarj, for she, by the 
lips of her visible Supreme Eulers, styled it 
'- Most Holy.'' An expression so rarely em- 
ployed, and that only for the most august and 
sacred objects, ought, certainly, to inspire us 
with particular devotion and veneration for 
this most holy and beautiful practice. Few of 
the devotions of our Holy Mother the Church 
are favored with a title so sublime. 

XYI. The Testimony of several Sovereign 
Pontiffs ix regard to the admirable 
Fruits of the Eosary. 

The admirable fruits which it has produced 



TREATISE ON THE EOSARY. 45 

and ceases not to produce, ought, above all 
things, to induce us to appreciate its great ad- 
vantages. 

And, first, according to Urban the Eighth, 
the Rosary is " the augmentation of the Chris- 
tian religion," — '' augmentum Christianorum." 
For its preaching extends the reign of the Gos- 
pel, by the knowledge that it gives to infidels 
of the great Mysteries of man's redemption 
which it contains. We have proof of this 
in the rapid progress of the Christian faith 
in China and Tonquin, where the Rosary 
preached by the children of St. Dominic has 
converted many idolaters. 

Secondly. The Kosary is, according to St. Pius 
the Fifth, a Dominican Pope, " the light which 
dispels the darkness of heresy," — "purgatio 
tenebrarum hseresise." St. Dominic, in the thir- 
teenth century, gave the death-blow to the great 
and dangerous sect of the Albigenses who rav- 
aged a great portion of France. These impious 
people can be numbered among the most for- 
midable and dangerous sects which ever arose 
against the Church of Christ. 

Thirdly. The Rosary is, according to Clem- 
ent the Eighth, " the salvation of the faithful," 
— " salus fidelium," for the Rosary has given 



46 TEEATISE ON THE KOSARY. 

aid to our Holy Mother the Church in all her 
dangers. It has delivered all Western Europe 
from the menaces of the Turkish power. The 
celebrated victory of LejDanto^ is the fruit of 
the prayers of the members of the Confrater- 
nity. For at the very time when the battle 
w^as raging with the greatest fury, the mem- 
bers of the Confraternity of the Rosary at the 
Minerva in Rome, were pouring forth most 
devout and solemn prayers for the victory. 
And the victory was gained by the Christians. 
The holy Pontiff, Pius the* Fifth, from the 
commencement of the expedition against the 
barbarous Mussulmans, ceased not to implore 
of Almighty God the success of the Christian 
arms. The Church greatly attributes to our 
Lady of the Rosary this victory of Lepanto, 
which may be deemed, if not the greatest ever 
gained over the Turks, at least one of the 
greatest. In thanksgiving for this miraculous 
victory which was gained on the 7th of Octo- 
ber, 1571, St. Pius the Fifth instituted a Fes- 
tival under the title of Our Lady of Victory 
(Sancta Maria de Yictoria). From the day of 



* Lepanto is a gulf whicli lies between the coast of the 
Morea, or Peloponnesus, and the mainland o^reece. 



TREATISE ON THE ROSAEY. 47 

this famous victory dates tlie decline of the 
Turkish power. " Past and present ages have 
seen nothing similar," says a celebrated writer, 
" and, probably, future ages will never behold 
a more glorious triumph.""^ 

It was also to the recitation of the Eosary 
that the Pontiff Clement the Eleventh acknowl- 
edged the Church to be indebted for the great 
victory w^hich Prince Eugene of Savoy gained 
over the Turks near Belgrade, August the 
7th, 1717. The same Pontiff sent several 
standards to the Dominicans, which were sus- 
pended in the Church as so many trophies, 
destined to be perpetual remembrances of the 
Most Holy Rosary. 

Fourthly. The Rosary " appeases the wrath 
of God," says Gregory the Thirteenth, — " pla- 
catio irse Dei." It is a law of peace placed be- 
tween an offended Heaven and a guilty earth. 

* The Festival of the Rosary-Sunday (the founda- 
tion of which was laid by St. Pius the Fifth), was in- 
stituted in a definite manner by Gregory the Thirteenth ; 
later, Clement the Eleventh extended it throughout the 
universal Church. In 1634, after a revelation from the 
Queen of Heaven, Father Martin Petroni established the 
beautiful devotion of Perpetual Rosary, and at the end of 
the same ceatury, that of the Fifteen Saturdays and Fif- 
teen Tuesdays was instituted. 



48 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

Those hands armed with this sign will be 
sheltered from the avenging thunderbolts of 
the Most High. 

Fifthly. The Kosary is " the destruction of 
Sin," remarks Gregory the Fourteenth, — " des- 
tructio peccati." A wandering soul will re- 
turn to the most pious sentiments bj the de- 
vout recitation of the Rosary, even though she 
were plunged into the most frightful abyss of 
vice. Persons zealous for the conversion of 
sinners have employed the Eosary with ad- 
mirable success, in order to obtain the graces 
of which those sinners stood in need. How 
many sinful and almost despairing souls owe 
to this sovereign remedy their sincere and true 
return to virtue ! 

" What have not modern heretics," says St. 
Liguori, " as Calvin, Bucer, and others, said, 
to bring into contempt the use of the Eosary ? 
But the great good is well known which this 
noble devotion has brought to the world. How 
many by its means have been freed from sin ? 
How many led to a holy life? How many 
have died a good death, and are now saved ?" 

Sixthly. The Eosary is " a treasury of graces," 
remarks Paul the Fifth, — "serarium gratia- 
rum." If sinners there find life and grace, the 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 49 

jnst draw from tlience an abundance of grace. 
The contemplation of the sacred Mysteries in 
the life of Our Saviour, inflames them with 
the Divine Love, elevates them to the most 
sublime virtues. A constant and devout reci- 
tation of the Eosary, is an earnest of persever- 
ance in the grace of God, of a happy death, 
' and of a blessed immortality. 

Finally, Julius the Third declared the Eosa- 
ry to be " the shining ornament of the Eoman 
Church" — "decor Eomanse Ecclesise." It 
offers to us, in fact, in a sublime reality, those 
mysterious jewels spoken of in the Holy Bible, 
which form the peerless ornaments of the Im- 
maculate Spouse of Jesus Christ — the Eoman 
Catholic Church. 



XVII. The Great Advantages of belongs- 
ING to the Confraternity of the Most 
Holy Eosary. 

1st. One of the great advantages of the 
Confraternity is, that the members, by inscrib- 
ing the names of their deceased friends and 
relations in its register, cause them — the de- 
ceased friends, &c., to participate in the graces, 
Indulgences, and good works common to all 
5 



50 TREATISE OK THE ROSARY. 

members — Alexander the Sixth, 1494. What 
a great advantage ! 

2d. Another great advantage is, that the 
members participate, during life, and after 
death, in all the graces, pr^-yers, good works, and 
mortifications of the entire Dominican Order, 
according to Innocent the Eighth, 1484. And 
now seriously think of this great advantage — ' 
to be made participants during life, and after 
our death in all the good works, &c., of the 
many hundreds who belong to the Order of St. 
Dominic. We think it a great spiritual ben- 
efit if we can get some good priest or some 
virtuous religious to pray for us ; but there can 
be no comparison between getting the prayers 
of one virtuous priest or any good person, and 
having a participation in the prayers of very 
many virtuous priests, and very many virtuous 
religious. What a great inducement is this to 
have one's name enrolled in the Confraternity? 

3d. But what should be deemed the greatest 
advantage of all is, that whosoever is admitted 
to be a member in any part of the earth, is 
made a participant in the prayers of the mem- . 
bers throughout the world. What a treasure ! 
what a precious heritage in itself alone, not 
to say any thing of the many Partial and Pie- 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 51 

nary Indulgences which are granted by the 
Church to the members — the most of which 
we shall soon enumerate. Why this immense 
advantage alone ought to be a sufficient induce- 
ment for all the faithful to get enrolled in the 
Confraternity. We consider it a very great 
advantage if we can get some good family to 
intercede for us ; but there can be no compar- 
ison instituted between getting the prayers of 
one good family and having those of millions 
of virtuous persons. And it is certain that 
millions of good Christians belong to this Con- 
fraternity. 

4th. And in fine, what should be deemed a 
very great advantage in saying the Second Part 
of the Rosary is, that it recalls to our remem- 
brance the Passion of our Most Blessed Saviour. 
For when we say the First Sorrowful Mystery 
we ought to contemplate Him agonizing in the 
Garden of Olives, where His Most Sacred Body 
is bathed in a bloody sweat which bedews the 
ground beneath Him. It was at this time that 
the sight of the great multitude of our sins 
made Him to bow down to the earth and also 
was the cause of His most bloody sweat. And 
when we say the Second Mystery we ought to 
contemplate His scourging at the Pillar by the 



63 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. * 

infidel and most brutal soldiers in the house of 
Pilate. And here we ought to make this re- 
flection that we by our sins have scourged 
Him more cruelly than the infidel soldiers did 
with their rods. In the Third Mystery, we 
ought to consider our Divine Lord crowned 
with thorns ; when these satanic soldiers plait 
those most sharp thorns and cruelly press them 
on His Sacred Head. When we say the Fourth 
Mystery, we ought to contemplate Him carry- 
ing the cross, which He bears with most admi- 
rable patience. In the last Mystery, we ought 
to contemplate Him stretched upon the hard 
bed of the cross ; and then His Hands which 
sway the sceptre of Heaven, and those Feet 
that trample upon the powers of hell, are nailed 
to the cross. 

When we say the last two Sorrowful Mys- 
teries, we ought, also, to call to our remem- 
brance the grief which pierced the sacred heart 
of the Blessed Virgin, when she beheld Him 
walking to the place of execution, fainting 
under the weight of the Cross, and so covered 
with blood and wounds that she could hardly 
recognize Him; but above all when she saw 
Him crucified upon Mount Calvary, and heard 
Him pronounce His last seven words. 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 63 

When we are reciting any of the Sorrowful 
Mysteries, in fact any Mystery of the Eosary, 
we ought to represent to our imagination 
the substance and the most striking circum- 
stance of the Mystery, in the most lively man- 
ner we can, as if we had actually been present 
at it. For instance, in reciting the Fifth Sor- 
rowful Mystery, imagine yourself, as St. Fran- 
cis of Sales advises, to be on Mount Calvary ; 
contemplate Mary all bathed in tears at the 
foot of the cross; address the aves to her, 
standing there in an agony of sorrow, and ex- 
ercise in your heart such affections as the sight 
of so great suffering naturally inspires. It is 
very easy to conceive, that it must have been 
a most afflicting sight for the best of mothers 
to behold the dearest of sons, hanging upon 
the cross in a most excruciating posture, before 
her own eyes, without being able to afford Him 
the least comfort or relief. She heard Him 
say : '' I thirst ;" but it was not permitted her 
to give Him a little water whereby His great 
thirst might be quenched. " Every torture in- 
flicted upon Jesus," says St. Jerome, '' was a 
wound in the heart of Mary." But what 
caused her the greatest sorrow was to perceive 
by her grief and presence that she increased 
5* 



54: TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

His great sufferings. However, the presence 
of Mary became a great source of benedictions 
to the faithful in general, as the Saviour of the 
world on that occasion constituted her — as we 
shall prove in the First Reason for being de- 
vout to her — their spiritual Mother in the per- 
son of St. John. And from that moment she 
began to perform this office of Mother ; for, as 
St. Peter Damian declares, the penitent thief, 
through the prayers of Mary, was then con- 
verted and saved. 

When we say the Sorrowful Mysteries, we 
ought to consider that it was a God who suf- 
fered for us. A God suffered for us ! Can 
we reflect upon this without emotion ? If the 
meanest person upon the face of God's earth 
Buffered one hundredth part of what our Sa- 
viour endured for the love of us, we would 
always remember him — we w^ould ever kiss 
the ground whereupon he walks. How, then, 
does it happen that we so seldom think of what 
God suffered for us ? There is nothing we de- 
test so much as ingratitude from a person upon 
whom we have conferred a favor. Why, then, 
do we show such base ingratitude to Jesus 
Christ, who has shed the last drop of His Most 
Precious Blood for us? It should, then, be 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 55 

deemed a very great advantage to belong to 
the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, — 
for when we are members of it we are bound 
at least once a week to meditate upon the very 
great sufferings which Christ endured for the 
love of us. 



XVIII. Indulgences of the Eosaey. 

Indulgences granted to the members of the 
Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, ex- 
tracted principally from the Summary drawn 
up by the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 
approved by it, and confirmed by the Pontiff 
Innocent the Eleventh (Bull Niiper jpro parte). 

On the day of admission into the Confrater- 
nity, the faithful repenting, having confessed 
and communicated, gain a Plenary Indul- 
gence. 

If, having confessed, they communicate on 
this day in the Church or Chapel of the Con- 
fraternity, and recite the five decades, or a 
Third Part of the Rosary^ and say the accus- 
tomed prayers, they gain another Plenary In- 
dulgence. 

On the first Sunday of every month, the 
members who, having confessed, communicate 



56 TREATISE ON THE EOSARY. 

m tlie Church of the Confraternity, and saj 
the acciTstomary prayers, gain another Plenary 
Indulgence. 

If, after having confessed and communica- 
ted, they visit the Chapel of the Kosary, they 
can gain also another Plenary Indulgence. 

If, after having confessed and communica- 
ted, they assist at the Procession, another 
Plenary Indulgence. For being present at the 
Procession of the Rosary, adding to the pre- 
ceding conditions that of the usual prayers, 
another Plenary Indulgence. Besides these, 
there is a great number of Partial Indulgences. 

The members who, on the Festivals of the 
Blessed Virgin, having confessed, or having 
the firm purpose of so doing, visit the Chapel 
of the Rosary, between the first Vespers of 
the Vigil and sunset on the day of the Festival, 
will gain a Plenary Indulgence. 

Note. — Those who, haYing recited a Third Part of the 
Rosary, in cominon, at least three times a week, and hav- 
ing confessed and communicated, visit a church and say 
there the accustomed prayers, will gain, according to his 
present Holiness, Pius IX., a Plenary Indulgence (a. d. 
1851). 

If, in addition to the preceding conditions, 
they communicate, and recite the customary 



trp:atise on the kosary. oT 

prayers, tliey will gain another Plenary In- 
dulgence. 

If, having confessed, or with firm purpose 
of so doing, they accompany the Procession, 
another Plenary Indulgence. On some of 
these Festivals the Indulgences are more nu- 
merous, as on the Annunciation, and the As- 
sumption. 

For the Festival of Posary-Sunday, — first 
Sunday of October, — all the Indulgences on 
the first Sunday of every month. Furthermore, 
those members who, having communicated, 
visit the Chapel of the Posary between the 
first Vespers and sunset of the day of the Fes- 
tival, gain, each time, a Plenary Indulgence. 

For the Stations of Rome, and others through- 
out the year, the members having visited five 
altars of the Church where the Confraternity is 
established, obtain the same Indulgences which 
they would have gained by visiting in person 
all the Stations of Rome. 

The following are the days of the Stations : 
the Circumcision, the Epiphany, the Sundays 
of Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinqua- 
gesima, all the days between Ash-Wednesday 
and the first Sunday after Easter, the Feast of 
St. Mark, the three Rogation Days, the A seen- 



58 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

sion, all the days between the Yigil of Pente- 
cost and the Saturday within the Octave, the 
Ember Days of September, the Sundays of 
Advent, the Ember Days of December, the 
Vigil of Christmas, Christmas day at the three 
masses, the three Feasts which follow Christ- 
mas, St. Stephen's day, St. John's, and the 
Holy Innocents. 

The members who, having confessed and 
communicated, visit the altar of the Rosary, 
gain a Plenary Indulgence on the following 
days: the third Sunday of April, the Festival 
of the Blessed Sacrament, and on the Festival 
of the Patron of the Church of the Confra- 
ternity. 

On the Festivals of the Mysteries of the 
Rosary, — for instance, the Annunciation, the 
Visitation, Nativity of our Saviour, the Ascen- 
sion, the Assumption, &c., &c.,— the members 
who, having confessed and communicated, visit 
the Chapel of the Rosary, gain a Plenary In- 
dulgence. By reciting the Rosary they gain 
some Partial Indulgences. They also gain 
other Indulgences by visiting the Chapel. 

On the Sunday within the Octave of the- 
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, if the members 
have confessed and communicated, and have 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 59 

said the customary prayers, they gain a Plen- 
ary Indulgence. 

If the members recite a third part of the 
Rosary in the Church of the Confraternity, 
fifty years' Indulgence. If they recite it in 
common, ten years and ten quarantines, ac- 
cording to Pius the Ninth (May 12th, 1851). 
If they recite the entire Rosary, or the fifteen 
decades, they gain all the Indulgences granted 
to the Crown of Spain^ among which there is a 
Plenary Indulgence. 

Those who recite the entire Rosary in the 
course of the week, gain, besides the preced- . 
ing Indulgences, two years for each part, also 
seven j^ears and seven quarantines ; likewise if 
they repent of their sins, and confess or have 
the firm purpose of so doing, ten years and ten 
quarantines. 

In fine, a Plenary Indulgence applicable 
once during our life, i. 6., an Indulgence which 
we can gain on only one occasion during our life- 
time. 

All the faithful who recite the entire Rosary, 
or even only a Third Pavt^ gain for each Pater 
and Ave. one hundred days' Indulgence. If, 
during the year, they have said at least a Third 
Part each day, they can, provided they go to 



60 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

confession and communion, gain a Plenary In- 
dulgence, on whatever day they please in the 
same year, if their beads have been blessed by 
a priest of the Order of St. Dominic. — Benedict 
the* Thirteenth, April 13th, 1726. 

These Indulgences are precisely the same as 
those of the Chaplet of St. Bridget — according 
to Clement the Eleventh, December 4th, 1714. 

For the Votive-Mass of the Rosary. 

Priests authorized to celebrate the Votive- 
Mass of the Kosary, and all the members who 
hear it, and have confessed or are resolved to 
do so, gain each time all the Indulgences be- 
longing to the recitation of the Eosary. Be- 
sides, those who have the pious custom of cel- 
ebrating, or hearing that Mass, gain once a 
month, if they have confessed and communi- 
cated, all the Indulgences granted to those who 
are present at the Procession which is made 
upon the First Sunday of every month. 

For different worTcs of Charity. 

The members who assist at the Salve Regina^ 
gain, each time, one hundred days' Indulgence. 
Also upon the Festivals of the Blessed Virgin, 
the Apostles, and all the canonized saints of 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 61 

the Dominican Order, three years and three 
quarantines. 

For every Saturday, and the ordinary Festi- 
vals, forty days more, and for all the Satur 
days in Lent, one year. 

Those who visit the sick, three hundred days, 
also three years and three quarantines. Same 
Indulgences for accompanying the dead to the 
grave. If they assist at the Absolution of the 
dead, which takes place once a week in Domini- 
can churches, eight years. In fine, for each work 
of piety and charity, in general, sixty days. For 
visiting the Chapel of the Rosary they gain upon 
ordinary days, one hundred days' Indulgence. 

Note. — Many Plenary Indulgences are attached to this 
visit on particular days. Each time one causes the Ro- 
sary to be recited by another, he gains one hundred and 
forty days' Indulgence. Those, who repenting of their 
sins, carry or wear the Rosary-beads, in honor of the 
Mother of God, gain one hundred years, and as many 
quarantines, every day. 

For the Sick and others lawfully exempted. 

Tlie members who are upon a journey, or 
those who follow the sea, or are in the service, 
can gain the Indulgence of the Procession of 
the First Sunday of the month, by reciting 
the fifteen decades. Five decades suffice for 
6 



62 TREATISE ON THK ROSARY. 

the sick, or others lawfully exempted. But 
contrition and the purpose of confessing at 
the first favorable opportunity, is necessary for 
them. By complying with the conditions, they 
can gain the Plenary Indulgences granted to 
those who visit the Chapel of the Rosary, for 
the Festivals of the difterent Mysteries. Sick 
members can gain the Plenary Indulgence 
granted to those who approach Holy Com* 
mvmion on the First Sunday of the month in 
the Church of the Confraternity, and the Indul- 
gences granted to those w^ho are present at the 
Procession — provided, having confessed and 
communicated, they recite the entire Rosary 
before some pious picture or representation. 
There are, besides, other Partial Indulgences 

for the sick. 

At the Hour of Death, 

The members faithful to the recitation of the 
Rosary, once a week, gam a Plenary Indul- 
gence, applied by the priest, according to the 
form called the Absolution of the Rosary, 

For those w4io receive the Sacrament of Pen- 
ance and Holy Eucharist, another Plenary 
Indulgence. 

Whosoever has recited the Rosary, at least 
once during life^ and has confessed or resolved 



TRKATISE ON THE EOSARY. 63 

to confess, and holds the blessed candle of the 
Rosary at the hour of death, gains another 
Plenary Indulgence. 

Whosoever has confessed and communicated, 
and invokes, at least interiorly and from his 
heart, if he cannot pronounce with his lips, the 
Name of Jesus — another Plenary Indulgence. 

For every one who, having received the sac- 
raments, and made profession of the Catholic 
Faith, recites the Salve Hegina^ and recom- 
mends himself to the protection of Mary, an- 
otlier Plenary Indulgence. 

For every one who, having confessed and 
communicated, invokes the Sacred Name of 
Jesus, at least mentally, if unable to do so with 
his lips, and gives some sign of contrition, an- 
other Plenary Indulgence. 

For the Dead, 

The altar of the Rosary is privileged for all 
the priests of the Order of St. Dominic, and 
for all the members of the Confraternity of 
the Rosary who celebrate Mass there for a 
member. This rare privilege has been ex- 
tended by Benedict the Thirteenth to all the 
altars of the churches of the Dominicans, in 
favor of all the souls of the faithful departed, 



64 TREATISE ON THE R'"'SAEY. 

bur only for the Masses of the Eeligi-jus of the 
Order. — September 2'2d. 1724. 

Aii vi the foregoing Indulgences are applica- 
ble to the soals in Purgatory. 

All the Indulojences of the Rosary, without 
exception, can be applied to the poor suffering 
souls in Purgatory. 

XIX. Miracles. 

Before we enter upon the subject of the 
Miracles of the Eosary, let us hear what the 
great St. Liguori says in reference to those 
lastidious persons who believe in no miracles 
but those recorded in the Holy Bible. 

•• Some persons/' says he. " boasting of being 
free from prejudices, take great credit to them- 
selves for believing no miracles but those re- 
lated in the Holy Scripitures, esteeming all 
others as tales and fables for foolish women. 
But it will be well to repeat here a just re- 
mark of the learned and saintly Father John 
Crasset, who says that the wicked are as ready 
to deride miracles as the virtuous are to be- 
Keve them ; adding, that as it is a weakness 
to give credit to all things, so, on the other 
hand, to reject miracles which come to us at- 
tested by grave and pious men, either savors 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 65 

of infidelity, which supposes them impossible 
to God, or of presumption, which refuses belief 
to such a class of authors. We give credit to 
a Tacitus and a Suetonius, and can we deny it 
w^ithout presumption to Christian authors of 
learning and probity ? There is less risk, says 
Father Canisius, in believing and receiving 
what is related with some probability by hon- 
est persons, and not rejected by the learned, 
and which serves for the edification of our 
neighbor, than in rejecting it wdth a disdainful 
and presumptuous spirit." 

XX. Miracles of the Eosary, or its Won 

DERFUL Effects. 

To the invocation of the Divine Mother, by 
the Kosary, is owing the cure of the sick, the 
resurrection of the dead, and deliverance from 
the most frightful dangers. Six centuries 
unite their mighty voices to attest this. 
Heaven has bestowed miraculous favors upon 
those whose zeal exerts itself to sustain, de- 
fend, and propagate the Eosary throughout the 
world, and upon those w^ho placed their confi- 
dence in its devout recitation. 

The miracles of the Eosary are remarkable 
6* 



66 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

by a twofold title : Ist, By their quality. The 
Eosary performs wonders of the first order, in 
which the finger of Almighty God manifests 
itself with extraordinary distinctness. 

2d5 By their numbers. Since its institution, 
all ages, and every place in the universe, 
have been, and are still filled with these mir- 
acles. Father Eiera — a Spanish Dominican — 
collected in a special work m6re than five 
hundred facts of this kind, and yet, he is far 
from having gathered them all. If it were 
necessary to write them, said Mary to Blessed 
Alanus, they would form immense volumes. 

Among these numberless miracles which 
recommend the devotion of the Eosary, we 
shall cite the following from approved authors. 

A young man given up to the vicious habit 
of impurity, dared not reveal it in confession, 
and, notwithstanding, he approached the altar 
to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. One 
day he heard Father Conrad — a worthy son of 
St. Dominic — speaking on the Rosary. This 
holy priest was a fervent preacher of this de- 
votion. The heart of this youth was gained 
by the Rosary. His name was enrolled in the 
Confraternity, and he began to render to the 
Queen of Heaven the tribute of his praises. 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 67 

O wonder ! scarcely had he recited the Eosary 
during three days, when his soul is suddenly 
overwhelmed with a sentiment of sincere sor- 
row. The remembrance of his baseness allow- 
ed him no repose, and he was obliged, by 
reason of his remorse of conscience, to present 
himself to the minister of God at the tribunal 
of penance, in order to purify himself from his 
great sacrileges. The Rosary obtained for 
him the grace to conquer his temptation of 
shame. This devotion also gave him strength 
to resist his inveterate habit of impurity, and 
a great tranquillity succeeded the agitation of 
his soul. 

St. Francis of Sales, having arrived at the 
age of seventeen, finished his studies at Paris, 
without losing his innocence and piety. How- 
ever, Almiglity God, in order to try and purify 
him the more, permitted the demon of despair 
to attack him. This enemy of the human race 
imprinted deeply upon the mind of the young 
man an idea of a certain reprobation, of the 
entire worthlessness of his good works, and an 
inevitable damnation. Thus he fell into a pro- 
found desolation. He became utterly insensi- 
ble to thoughts of Heaven, and entirely ab- 
sorbed in dark and gloomy imaginings. In- 



68 TEEATISE ON THE KOSART. 

capable of eating, sleeping, or diverting him- 
self, he soon lost his health. Distrust reigned 
in the depths of his heart, all his words ex- 
pressed donbt and uncertainty. " Unfortunate 
being that I am," said he to himself, " I am, 
alas ! deprived of the grace of my God, and of 
the sweetness of His love, and of the charms 
of His communications. 

"And, notwithstanding, have I not given 
Him all? Am I not entirely consecrated to 
His service? Have I not vowed an eternal 
fidelity to Him? And, now, I am without 
consolation, in an eternal despair, deprived of 
my God ! O Virgin," added he, " Mother of 
goodness! I shall never behold thee, never 
love thee in Heaven ! Frightful calamity ! 
misfortune that should be mourned with tears 
of blood ! Ah ! at least, O King of Heaven ! 
and O Queen of Angels ! if I am always to be 
separated from you, do not permit me to blas- 
pheme and curse you in hell !" Thus sjDoke 
the pious youth. The temptation lasted for a 
month, but, at last, it pleased God to deliver 
him from it by means of the '' Comfortress of 
the Afflicted"— the Divine Mother. Behold, 
then, how he was, at length, liberated from it. 
One evening, on entering a chapel, he per- 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 69 

ceived framed, and suspended upon the wall, 
the celebrated prayer of St. Bernard, called the 
Memorare. He recited it most fervently ; 
then, prostrating himself upon his knees, he 
renewed his virginal consecration to Mary, and 
afterwards he made a vow to recite, every day 
of his life, at least a Third Part of the Rosary, 
" O Mary," continued he, " be my advocate 
with Jesus, to whom I dare not address my- 
self. If I am so unhapjDy as to be incapable 
of loving God, so worthy of love, in the next 
world, grant that, in compensation, I may 
love Him with all my strength on earth. I 
implore most earnestly this grace. O Mother 
of Jesus, thou wilt not refuse to obtain it- for 
me." After this prayer, St. Francis cast him- 
self, with confidence, into the arms of the di- 
vine mercy, and awaited the holy will of God. 
But hardly was his petition finished, when a 
complete change took place in his heart. The 
temptation ceased, his persecutor — the demon 
of despair — disappeared, peace returned, and 
with it, his bodily health. 

The Saint was ever faithful to his vow. He 
never failed to recite a Third Part of the Ro- 
sary every day of his life. Amid the most 
absorbing occupations of the apostolic minis- 



70 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. "" 

trj, he never slept, it mattered not how late 
the hour, without fulfilling his vow. Admit- 
ted when he was young into the Confraternity 
of the Eosary, lie often preached its excellence, 
and exhorted preachers to announce it to the 
people as an abundant source of graces. 

The deyout author of a book in honor of 
the Eosary, entitled, the "Secret of every 
Grace," relates that St. Yincent Ferrer once 
said to a man dying in despair : " Why will 
you ruin yourself, when Jesus Christ wishes to 
save you V' And he answered, that in spite of 
Christ he would be damned. The Saint re- 
plied : ''And you, in spite of yourself, shall be 
sav-ed.'' He began to recite the Rosary with 
the persons of the house, and behold, the sick 
man asked to make his confession. He made 
it, weeping, and then died happily. 

The same author relates that a poor woman 
was buried by an earthquake under the ruins 
of a house. The persons who were employed 
by a certain priest to remove the stones, were 
not a little surprised when they found her alive 
and uninjured. When she was interrogated 
what devotion she had practised, she answered 
that she had never failed to recite the Eosary. 

The following miracles wrought by means 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 71 

of some Rosaries which had belonged to St. 
Philip Neri, may be found in the life of that 
Saint, published by the Oratorian Fathers. 
" A year or thereabouts after the death of St. 
Philip, a daughter of Pietro Contini, named 
Barbara, was grievously ill of continual fever, 
and the physician doubted if she could survive. 
The mother told her to say a Rosary on some 
beads which had belonged to the Saint, and the 
fever instantly ceased, so that the next day she 
was perfectly well. 

Felice Sebastiani, her mother, had suffered 
for eight successive months from a very pain- 
ful disease in both her legs, which were abso- 
lutely covered with sores, one of which was so 
large that the bone was distinctly visible. Ifhe 
surgeon, when he saw to what an extent the 
disease had gone, said that he could by no 
means guarantee her recovery. This quite dis- 
heartened the poor woman, and she began to 
weep, and recommend herself to the holy 
father. She begged him, that as he had cured 
her daughter Barbara, he would also obtain 
favor for her from God, making a vow that if 
she were cured she would make an offering at 
his tomb of two legs of silver; then, with the 
same Rosary with which her daughter Barbara 



72 



TREATISE 



DSAKY. 



had been cured, she touched her legs four or 
five times, wherever they were bad, after 
which she laid herself down to rest, and slept 
soundly all the night through, which she had 
not been able to do for eight months past. In 
the morning when she came to look at her 
sores, and lifted up, one after another, the plas- 
ters which were upon them, she found them all 
completely healed up, with the flesh healthy 
and firm, and the skin perfectly formed ; nor 
did she ever again suffer from this dreadful 
complaint. A child named Virginia, daughter 
of Pietro Ruissi, and Vittoria Frangipani, had 
a very severe fever, and her grandmother put 
about her neck a Eosary which had belonged 
to the holy father ; no sooner had it touched 
her than the fever left her. 

There were four persons condemned to death, 
one of whom was named Agostino ; this man 
was so obstinate that he wished, when he was 
to pass before the governor's palace on his w^ay 
to the scaffold, to cry out aloud and tell him 
that he had done him wrong, and that he sum- 
moned him before the tribunal of Almighty 
God ; and they could not divert him from his 
purpose, although many had tried their best, 
and had spent great part of the night in doing 



TREATISE ON THE KOSARY. 

SO. At length it occurred to Monte Tazzara, 
who was one of those who were trying to com- 
fort the prisoners, to take a Kosarj which had 
belonged to St. Philip ; and he said to the con* 
demned man, ''I w^ish you to say this Rosary 
once, with devotion, in honor of that holy fa- 
ther to whom it belonged, to the end he may 
intercede for you, and rid you of this tempta- 
tion, and obtain for you true contrition for your 
sins." Agostino took the Eosary, and asked 
Monte what the name of the father might be ; 
he answered that he was called Philip. Tlien 
Agostino, touched by the grace of God, knelt 
down and began to recite the Rosary, when 
suddenly he broke out into sobs and tears, im- 
ploring pardon of his sins ; he said that the 
temptation was gone ; and he heard Mass and 
communicated at it wdth great devotion, and 
persevered with every sign of contrition to the 
last, begging that he might be allowed, before 
he died, instead of summoning the governor 
before the tribunal of God, to ask the peo]3le to 
say a Pater Noster and an Ave Maria for his 
soul ; a request which was granted him." 

'• A young woman named Francesca, of Ti- 
voli, who, many years before, had gone to con- 
fession to the holy father, was ill with continual 
7 



74: TREATISE ON THE ROSAKY. 

fever of so bad a nature, that when the surgeon 
touched her with the lancet to draw blood, cor- 
rupted matter came out, so that she was given 
over by all. A Rosary of St. Philip's was giv- 
en her, and she. was told she must have faith. 
The following day the fever subsided, and 
Francesca was perfectly cured." 

''When Tiberio Astalli was riding along a 
road above Tivoli, he saw, at a little distance, 
a crowd of people, and heard some one scream- 
ing violently ; he therefore turned his horse's 
head towards the spot, and found that they 
were taking a woman to a place called St. An- 
gelo, who, they said, was possessed, and they 
could not get her a step farther, because she 
had planted her feet on the earth with all the 
force of a demoniac, so that although several 
men were there, they were unable to drag her 
from that position. Tiberio recollected that he 
had about him a Rosary which had belonged to 
the Saint ; wherefore he dismounted from his 
horse, and without her perceiving it, placed 
the Rosary upon her, when she instantly 
screamed out, ' They are putting fire on me !' 
at the same time she began to run towards the 
castle, so that they were able to take her where 
they wished without further trouble." 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 75 

Let US now bring this subject to a conclusion 
in these beautiful words of Father Barry : 
" The work of conversion went bravely on : 
Dominic reaped a harvest of souls, and our 
sweet Mother, a harvest of glory." 

"From that day to this, the devotion of the 
Rosary has never lost its hold on the affec- 
tions of the faithful. To recount the wonders 
it has wrought and still continues to work 
until the day of doom, in Heaven, on earth, 
and in Purgatory, would require an inspired 
tongue, and the vision of prophecy. The glory 
that surrounded it at its birth, went on increas- 
ing, until it culminated with a dazzling radi- 
ance on the meridian of the Mary-protected 
Church, towards the close of the sixteenth age." 

XXI. Chastisement of a Notorious Calum- 
niator OF THE EoSARY. 

Heaven has struck the scoffers and calumni- 
ators •of the devotion of the most holy Eosary 
with remarkable chastisements. Let the fol- 
lowing example, which was made of one of 
them, deter all persons from sneering at the 
Eosary, and from saying any thing against it. 

When St. Don^inic was preaching at Carcas- 



76 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

sone, in France, an Albigensian heretic, who 
was possessed by demons, and fearfully tor- 
mented by them, was brought to the Saint, be- 
canse he had publicly spoken against the de- 
votion of the Eosary. Saint Dominic then 
commanded those demons, in the name of God, 
to declare whether the things which the Saint 
had said concerning the Kosary were true; 
and they were constrained to make the follow- 
ing avowals : " O Christians, all this onr ene- 
my has said of Mary and of the most holy Eo- 
sary is entirely trne. If you do not give credit to 
his words, great calamities await you . . . The 
Mother of Jesus is all-powerful to preserve her 
servants from hell I*' They were also con- 
strained to declare : "That as the snn dispels 
the shades of night, thns does she dispel our 
machinations and snares. K^one of our deceits 
escape her, she annihilates our stratagems! 
Alas! we are forced to confess it; no one is 
lost loTio perseveres in True Devotion to Mary^ 
and in the devout and constant recitation of the 
Rosary^ for Mary obtains for her true servants 
a hearty sorrow for their sins, and the grace 
to make a salutary confession." St. Dominic 
forthwith invited the people to recite aloud the 
entire Eosary, and he began it himself. When 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 77 

this most advantageous practice was finished, 
the wretched man was entirely freed from the 
demons who tormented him. This manifesta- 
tion converted a nmltitnde of the erring. This 
teaches us not onl)^ how terrible are the chas- 
tisements reserved for the calumniators of the 
Rosary, but also what treasures of grace and 
salvation are contained in this most holy prac- 
tice. 

Two saints of the Dominican Order testified 
to the foregoing example. 

Some fastidious persons may smile at the 
idea of this miserable man being possessed by 
devils, and of his being freed from them. But 
^ve read in the Gospel of St. Matthew, chap, 
viii., of two men being possessed by devils, 
and of Christ driving them out of those men, 
and permitting them to go into the swirie. 
And many may sneer at the avowals of those 
demons in the just-cited example, but let them 
ponder well on these words of the aforesaid 
chapter : " And the devils besought Him, say- 
ing : If thou cast us out hence, send us into 
the herd of swine. And he said to them : Go. 
And they, going out, went into the swine." 



78 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

XXII. It only takes about Ten Minutes to 
RECITE FiYE Decades. 

Many persons allege that it takes too much 
time to recite the Eosaiy. Xow, I assert that 
it does not require Yerj much time. For if 
you look at a watch or a clock, you will find 
that it only takes about ten minutes to say a 
Third Pari of the Hosary. or the Ayc decades. 
I do not mean a Third Part of the Eosary, 
with the prayers which precede or follow the 
Mysteries, that are to be found in many pray- 
er-books, and which some persons erroneously 
imagine they are bound to recite; I only mean 
the essential parts which are to be said in the 
fiYc decades. This erroneous idea, about say- 
ing certain prayers in the Rosary, which no 
one is bound to recite, deters many persons 
from getting their names inscribed in the Con- 
fraternity, not unlike the erroneous idea about 
the obligations of the Scapular of Mount Car- 
mel, or, as it is commonly called, the Brown 
Scapular, which prevents very many persons 
from being invested with it."^ But to resume. 

* Those persons erroneouslv imagine that they would 
have to say seven " Our Fathers'" and seven '' Hail Mary's" 
every day ; and if they eat flesh upon Wednesdays and 



TREATISE ON THE ROSAEY. 79 

Now if a person cannot afford ten minutes in 
twenty -four hours, or fourteen hundred and 
forty minutes — the number of minutes in a day 
— it is very strange, indeed. But what is still 
more strange, if he cannot afford about half 
an hour in seven days, or a hundred and sixty- 
eight hours — the number of hours in a week 



Saturdays, tliat they would be obliged to double tlie pray- 
ers. This is a most erroneous idea. For the opinion of 
all Carmelites who have written on the subject is, to be 
a member of the Confraternity of the Scapular, that is, 
as we find in a certain Scapular work, to be entitled to a 
participation in the merits and good works of the whole 
Order of Mount Carmel, and to have a right to the per- 
sonal Indulgences of the Confraternity, no particular 
prayer, fast, or abstinence has been prescribed by the Church. 
It is true, the members — and they only — gain an Indul- 
gence of forty days by saying seven " Our Fathers " and 
seven " Aves ;" but they are not obliged to do so, nor do 
they lose any thing but that Partial Indulgence by not 
reciting them. 

" Some persons are deterred from embracing the devo- 
tion of the Scapular," says this Scapular work, " by the 
idea that they would thereby be obliged either to recite 
the Office of our Blessed Lady, or to abstain from meat 
twice a week ; whereas, they may be good members of 
the Confraternity, and enjoy the most of the advantages 
of it, as has been already observed, by simply wearing the 
Scapular." For more proofs about the obligations of the 
Scapular, see the Golden Book of the Confraternities. 



80 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

— to recite the entire Eosary. Many Chris- 
tians Trho say they have not time to recite 
the Eosary, can afford to spend hours, and 
even whole days, and what is still raore, entire 
weeks, in sinful amusements, in pleasure-trips, 
in idle and sinful conversation ; but if there be 
question of saying the Eosary or other pray- 
ers, they will answer that they have no time. 
Indeed, this is one of the strangest things in 
the whole world. 



4 



XXni. Xo OXE OUGHT TO BE AsHAMED TO Ee- 

cite the eosary, or get enrolled in the 
Confraternity. 

There are some persons who are ashamed to 
be seen with beads in their hands, or are 
ashamed to recite the Eosary before others. 
Xow, after a great servant of God, like the 
illustrious St. Dominic, and after his great 
Order, so distinguished for its learning and 
piety, which has been most justly called by 
several Sovereign Pontiffs, ''the Order of 
Truth" — "Ordo veritatis'' — and ''the impreg- 
nable bulwark of the Church against heresy," 
shall we blush at the practice of the Eosary ? 
Oh, no I on the contrary, we "will be proud to 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 81 

offer our homage to the Queen of Heaven, 
with so praiseworthy an assemblage. We 
have often seen the likenesses of some of the 
most eminent saints with beads in their hands, 
or with beads hanging from their girdles; 
these great servants of God certainly were not 
ashamed to recite the Rosary before others. 
The illustrious St. Francis of Sales loved to 
wear the beads at his girdle, and always felt 
happy in eulogizing the Eosary. 

Neither let us be ashamed to get our names 
enrolled under the banners of Mary. Several 
Sovereign Pontiffs have wished to be inscribed 
in her Confraternity, and that venerable ser- 
vant of the servants of God — Innocent the 
Eleventh — when he was at the point of death, 
begged to receive the Absolution w^hich is im- 
parted to the members of the Confraternity at 
the hour of death. Bossuet — that great and 
learned bishop — gloried in belonging to the 
Confraternity at Paris. 

Priests and religious have followed the ex- 
ample of the Vicars of Christ and of the saintly 
bishops — their superiors. St. Vincent of Paul, 
for example, established the Confraternity of 
the Rosary in the two parishes temporarily 
confided to his care. The Blessed Peter Mat- 



82 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

taincoiirt instituted it in his. St. Stanislaus 
Kostka, of the illustrious Society of Jesus, held 
the Rosary-beads in his hands until his last 
sigh. A priest said to him : "of what use is 
it to wear that Hosary around your hand, if you 
cannot recite it ?" The saint answered : " It 
serves to console me, for it is something be- 
longing to my Mother." The Blessed Alphon- 
sus Rodriguez, of the same illustrious Society, 
made the recitation of the Rosary his principal 
exercise. Not to say any thing of the children 
of St. Donxinic, the Rosary being their especial 
exercise, nothing is more natural than their 
attachment to this most holy devotion. 

The laity of Catholic nations, enlightened by 
a lively faith, have always honored, and assid- 
uously recited it. When their rulers were 
thoroughly religious, they did not blush to en- 
rol themselves in the Confraternity of the Ro- 
sary. Maximilian, emperor of Germany, be- 
longed to the Confraternity ; also the kings of 
Spain, and several kings of France. The 
royal children of France were even inscribed 
on its Register at their baptism ; two members 
of the Order of St. Dominic being charged to 
recite the Rosary in their place, until they were 
of an age to acquit themselves of this obligation. 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 83 

XXIV. In THIS Age of Indifferentism the 
Rosary is not sufficiently known. 

In this age of infidelity and the want of 
Faith, in this age of indifferentism, or rather 
insensibility to all things which relate to eter- 
nal salvation, and in this age of immorality, 
the Kosary is not sufficiently known, even 
among Catholics. Some who have the name 
of being zealous members of the Church, or at 
least have the name of being its communicants, 
not unfrequently turn this holy devotion into 
ridicule. Bat let those persons remember that 
according to a great prayer-book — the Visita- 
tion Manual — " to despise it is a sure indica- 
tion of an uncatholic spirit, and to neglect it, 
may be attributed, in most cases, to a lack of 
piety." And let them, also, remember, if it be 
good and advantageous to practise the Devo- 
tion of the Kosary, and to instil a love for it 
into the hearts of others ; it is fatal, on the con- 
trary, to despise or ridicule it, and turn our 
neighbor from it — because Heaven has struck 
its scoffers and calumniators with remarkable 
chastisements. 



84 TREATISE ON THE EOSARY. 

XXV. The Kosaey ought to be deyoijtly 

RECITED. 

Let all persons remember tliat the Rosary 
must be devoutly recited. And let us here call 
to our remembrance what the Holy Mother of 
God said to St. Eulalia, '' that she was better 
pleased with five decades said with pauses and 
devoutly, than with fifteen said in haste and 
with less, devotion." 

A small work styled '' Catholic Festivals and 
Devotions," says : " The utterance of certain 
prayers constitutes but a small part of the use 
of the beads. It is by no means an easy thing 
to say the Kosary well ; but we may safely af- 
firm that any one who can do so, has little 
more to learn in the science of devotion. Those 
fifty little beads, — to how many eyes they seem 
but the barren mockery of prayer ! To how 
many a saintly soul, trained and taught to use 
them, have they contained the very life-blood 
of devotion ! One thing is very certain, — if an 
hour spent with Jesus and Mary be a blessed 
thing, Catholics have a good right to love and 
use the Rosary." 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 85 

XXVI. Recapitulation and Conclusion. 

The conclusion to which we are to come from 
all that has been said in this little treatise is, 
to recite at least a Third Part of the Rosary 
every day we can. If we firmly resolve to of- 
fer to the Divine Mother the tribute of this 
prayer once a day, we shall certainly rejoice, 
if not during life, at least when we are upon 
our couch of death. 

My dear reader, let me here recapitulate 
some of the things which have been said in 
this Short Treatise on the Rosary. Remember 
that the Rosary is a heavenly institution, ac- 
cording to the testimony of several Sovereign 
Pontiffs ; remember that the most excellent 
and most ancient prayers in the Church are to 
be found in the Rosary ; and remember that 
the Rosary contains the greatest and most 
beautiful Mysteries of the Redemption of man. 
Also, remember all the graces and privileges 
w4th w^hich the Supreme Pastors of the Church 
have been pleased to enrich it ; and remember 
what they have testified in regard to its admi- 
rable fruits, viz.: that it is ''the light which 
dispels the darkness of heresy," '' the augmen- 
tation of the Christian religion," '^ the salvation 
8 



86 TREATISK ON THE PwOSARY. 

of the faithful," •' the destruction of sin^'' '' a 
treasury of graces," " the shining ornament of 
the Catholic Church," and that it ''appeases • 
the wrath of God." 

Remember, also, the distinguishing title — - 
Most Holy— which the Church of Christ has 
given to the Rosary ; remember in a special 
manner the great number of Indulgences which 
she grants to the members of the Confraternity ; 
and remember that all these Indulgences are 
applicable to your dear deceased relatives and 
friends who at present may be suffering in the 
fiery dungeons of Purgatory. 

But especially remember the immense ad* 
vantages which will accrue to you, if you get 
enrolled in the Confraternity, viz. : that by in- 
scribing in the Register the names of your de- 
ceased relations and friends, you cause them 
to participate in the graces. Indulgences, and 
good works common to all the members ; also, 
as soon as you become a member, you partici- 
pate in all the graces, good works, and morti- 
fications of the entire Dominican Order, not 
only during life, but also after death, and like- 
wise that you have all the children of St. 
Dominic praying for you both in life and death. 

Remember, also, the great glory which the 



TREATISE ON TflE ROSARY. 87 

Eosary has given to Almighty God since its 
institution ; but especially remember, since its 
appearance, that all ages, and every place in 
the universe, have been and are still filled with 
its miracles or its wonderful effects ; for you 
know that the Blessed Yirgin revealed, if it 
were necessary to write all of them, that they 
would form immense volumes. 

But in an especial manner remember that 
as often as you say the Sorrowful Mysteries, 
so often do you recall to your memory the 
great sufferings which Jesus Christ underwent 
for the love of you, and w^ho shed the last drop 
of His most precious blood for you. Remem- 
ber, also, when you say the last two Sorrowful 
Mysteries, you can reflect upon some of the 
Dolors of the Blessed Virgin. 

In fine, most especially remember that when 
you get enrolled in the Confraternity of the 
Most Holy Rosary, in any part of the earth, 
that you become a participant in the prayers 
of all the members throughout the world, or, 
in other w^ords, you have millions of persons 
making intercession for you at the throne of 
mercy. 

ISTow, wdiat you are to conclude from this 
Recapitulation is, not only to recite the Rosary, 



88 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 

but also to get your names inscribed in the 
Confraternity. If yon do not get enrolled un- 
der the banners of Mary for your own sake, 
at least, do so for the sake of your dear de- 
ceased relatives and friends, for you know un- 
less you are a member yourself, you cannot 
get their names inscribed. And remember, 
when you belong to this Confraternity, you are 
not bound to attend arTy meeting, nor are you 
obliged to pay any fee, neither upon the day 
of your entrance nor at any other time. All 
you are bound to do is, as you are aware, to 
have your name enrolled in the Confraternity, 
to recite the entire Rosary once a week, upon 
beads w^hich have been blessed by a priest 
having the faculty of so doing, and lastly, to 
reflect upon the corresponding Mystery, if you 
can, during the time in which you are saying 
each decade. If you reside in a place where 
there is no Confraternity, send your own name 
and the names of your dear deceased relatives 
and friends to a Dominican convent, or to a 
priest who has the faculty of enrolling mem- 
bers. This faculty is received from the Master- 
General of the Dominican Order, from whom 
ecclesiastics of all parts of the world receive 
the power of blessing beads, and of admitting 



I 



TREATISE ON THE EOSARY. 89 

persons into the Confraternity. If we do not 
get enrolled, at least let us strive to recite the 
Eosary from time to time. And let neither 
business, nor prosperity, nor adversity, nor 
distress, nor uneasiness, nor pleasure, nor 
crosses, nor temptations, nor men, nor devils, 
hinder us from saying the beads at least three 
times in the week. And if we persevere in 
reciting the Rosary devoutly and constantly, 
it will be a means of conducting us to the 
mansions of the Blessed. Amen. 



8* 



90 treatise on the rosary. 

Solemn" Reception of Persons into the Con- 
fraternity OF THE Most Holy Rosary. 

The candidate, previously furnislied with Ro- 
sary-beads and a lighted candle, kneels at the 
steps of the altar of the Rosary, or at the com- 
mimion-rails. The Superior of the Confrater- 
nity, or the priest who has the faculty of ad- 
mitting persons to be members, ought to wear 
the white stole. The server receives in a tray 
or basin the beads of the candidate. The server 
also ought to have in readiness the holy water 
and the Register of the Confraternity. It is 
advisable to address some words to the candi- 
date upon the great advantages of belonging 
to the Confraternity, and the obligations which 
it imposes. After the versicles and prayers 
are said, the beads are blessed, if they have 
not already been. 

Then the Superior receives the candidate into 
the Confraternity by repeating these words, 
"By the authority," &c., &c. 

After this formula is pronounced, the person 
received is sprinkled with holy water, and his 
name is immediately inscribed in the Register. 
The ceremony is finished by giving him the 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 91 

Rosary -beads, the Superior saying, " Receive," 
&c., after which the Yersicle, Ou?' help is in the 
name of the Lord^ and its response, Who made 
heaven and earthy are said. 

Note. — Althougli the ceremony of solemnly receiving 
persons in the Confraternity is not essential, yet it is very 
advisable to use it. 



92 TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 



Days on which the Members of the Rosary, 
Receiving Holy Communion, obtain a 
Plenary Indulgence. 

1st. Every first Sunday of the month. 
2d. On two Fridays in Lent, at the option of 
the person. 

3d. The following Festival days : — 
Jan. 6. The Epiphany, and on the Sunday 
within the Octave. 
" 23. St Raymond of Pennafort. 
" 28. Translation of St. Thomas of Aquin. 
Feb. 2. The Purification of the B. V. Mary. 

" 13. St. Catharine of Ricci. 
Mar. 7. St. Thomas of Aquin. 
" 25. The Annunciation."^' 

Holy Thursday and Good Friday. 
April 5. St. Vincent Ferrer. 
" 20. St. Agnes. 
'' 29. St. Peter M. 
'' 30. St. Catharine of Sienna. 
May 3. Invention of the Holy Cross. 
5. St. Pius V. 



* When any Festival day is transferred, the Indulgence 
is transferred with it. 



TREATISE ON THE ROSARY. 93 

May 7. The Crown of our Lord. 

" 10. St. Antoninus. 
July 2. The Visitation of the B. Y. Mary. 
Aug. 4. St. Dominic. 

" 15. The Assumption of the B. Y. Mary. 

" 16. St. Hyacinth. 

" 30. St. Eose of Lima. 
Sept. 8. The IsTativity of the B. Y. Mary. 

'' 15. The Commemoration of the miracu- 
lous image of St. Dominic in 
Surian. 
Oct. 10. St. Louis of Bertrand. 
Nov. 1. All Saints' Day. 

" 9. The Festival of All Saints of the 
Dominican Order. 

" 21. The Presentation of the B. Y. Mary. 
Dec. 8. The Conception of the Immaculate 
Yirgin Mary. 

" 25. The Nativity. 

For seven Fridays previous to the Feast of 
St. Yincent "Ferrer, on every Friday, an Indul- 
gence of seven years and as many quarantines 
to the pious communicant, and a Plenary one 
on one of those Fridays at his option. 

Likewise, to such as practise the devotion of 
the fifteen Thursdays previous to the Feast of 
St. Dominic, fasting and receiving the Holy 



94: TREATISE ON THE KOSARY. 

Communion on each Thursday, one hundred 
days of Indulgence are granted for each Thurs- 
day, and a Plenary one on one Thursday at 
their option. 

N. B. — 1st. It is understood that for the 
above Indulgences, some prayer, according to 
custom, should be said for the Church, accord- 
ing to the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff. 

2d. Those who go weekly to confession are 
considered as confessed on any day through 
the week on w^liich any Plenary Indulgence is 
granted, so that if they be otherwise in a state 
of grace, thej receive the Indulgence without 
going to confession on the day of the Holy Com- 
munion, or on the previous day.* 

* For an exceUent explanation of Indulgences, see St. 
Vincent's Manual. 



PART SECOND. 



SIX REASONS 

FOR BEING DEVOUT 



TO 



MARY. 



First Reasok. 

The First Reason we shall assign for being 
devont to the Holy Mother of God is, because 
she is our spiritual Mother. When our Divine 
Redeemer was hanging on the cross, He gave 
her as a Mother to us all, in the person of St» 
John, the beloved disciple. For proof of this 
assertion, see the twenty-sixth and twenty-sev- 
enth verses of the nineteenth chapter of that 
holy Evangelist, and you will find these words : 
" When Jesus, therefore, saw His Mother and 
disciple standing, whom He loved. He saith to 
His Mother, 'Woman, behold thy son.' And 
after that He saith to the disciple, ' Behold thy 
Mother.' And from that hour the disciple took 



96 FIRST EEASON. 

lier to liis own." iS'ow, most assuredly, Mary 
-rras not the carnal mother, or the mother 
according to the flesh, of St. John, and to as- 
sert this would be a great heresy, and a most 
horrid impiety, because Helvidius and. other 
heretics were condemned for inferring from 
these words of the twenty-second verse of the 
first chapter of St. Matthew, ''Till she brought 
forth her first-born Son,'' that Mary had other 
children besides Christ. St. Luke says, speak- 
ing of the birth of the Saviour of the world, 
that the Holv Mother of God ''brouo-ht forth 
her first-born Son'- (Luke, ii.) '"Therefore," 
says a certain author, '' if the Evangelist aflirms 
that Mary brought forth her first-born, is it to 
be supposed that she afterwards had other 
children?'' But the same writer adds, "Kit 
is of faith thaf Mary had no other children ac- 
cording to the flesh except Jesus, then she 
must have other spiritual children, and these 
we are." God revealed this to St. Gertrude, 
who, reading the passage of the Gospel just 
quoted, was troubled, not being able to under- 
stand how that Marv beins: the Mother of 
Christ alone, it could be said that He was her 
first-bom. And our Lord explained it to her, 
by telling her that Jesus was her first-born ac- 



FIRST REASON. 97 

cordiDg to the flesh, but that men were her 
second-born according to the spirit. When 
our divine Saviour, then, said to Mary, '' Be- 
hold thy son," He only meant to constitute 
her the spiritual Mother of St. John, and in 
his person, the spiritual Mother of all the 
faithful. Now it can be most clearly proved 
from those words, "And after that, He saith 
to the disciple. Behold thy Mother:" that 
Christ did appoint Mary the Mother of all the 
faithful ; and take special notice that the Evan- 
gelist does not record these words, " He saith 
to John^ but to the disciple^'^ to signify, as we 
learn from fhe " Glories of Mary" (chap. 1st, 
section 2d), that our Redeemer did constitute 
her the common Mother of those who, being 
Christians, bear the name of disciples, which 
was the first name by which the Christians 
were known. 

The Holy Fathers tell us that Mary became 
our spiritual Mother, at two different times. 
The first, when she, according to St. Bernard- 
ine, of Sienna, at the Annunciation of the an- 
gel, gave her consent to become Mother of the 
Eternal Word, which He awaited before mak- 
ing Himself her Son ; she, by this consent, 
ever from that time demanded of God, with 
9 



98 FIRST REASON. 

lively affection, our salvation ; and she was 
earnestly engaged in obtaining it, so that 
henceforth, she has borne us, as it were, in her 
womb, as a most loving Mother {Trac, de B. 
F!, se7'm. 6). It is not, then, by chance, or in 
vain, that the servants of Mary call her Mother. 
" It would seem that they cannot invoke her 
by any other name," says St, Liguori, " and 
are never weary of calling her Mother ; Moth- 
er, indeed, for she is truly our Mother, not ac* 
cording to the flesh, but the spiritual Mother 
of our souls and of our salvation" {Glories of 
Mary^ chap, 1, sec. 1) "The royal pro- 
phet," says he, '' although the Blessed Virgin 
was not yet born, besought of God salvation, 
by dedicating himself to Mary as her son, and 
thus prayed : ' Save the son of thy handmaid' " 
(Psalm Ixxxv. 16). " Whose handmaid ?" asks 
St. Augustine. '' She who says. Behold the 
handmaid of the Lord." " Every one who loves 
this good Mother, and trusts in her protection," 
says St. Bonaventure, '' should take courage 
and repeat : ' What do you fear, O my soul V 
The cause of thy eternal salvation will not be 
lost, as the final sentence depends upon Jesus, 
who is thy Brother, and upon Mary, who is 
thy Mother." 



FIRST REASON. 99 

The second time in wliicli Mary became our 
spiritual Mother, or in which she brought us 
forth to grace, was, according to St. Liguori, 
when, on Calvary, she offered to the Eternal 
Father, with so much sorrow of heart, the life 
of her beloved Son, for our salvation. Where- 
fore, St. Augustine asserts that, having then 
co-operated, by her love, with Christ, in the 
birth of the faithful to the life of grace, she 
became also, by this co-operation, the spiritual 
Mother of us all, who are members of our 
Head, Jesus Christ [Glories of Mary ^ chap. 1, 
sec. 1). 

Mary is our Mother, not according to the 
flesh, but by love. " I am the Mother of beau- 
tiful love" (Ecclus., xxiv.) Hence she becomes 
our Mother only on account of the love she 
bears us. The saints, because they loved God 
exceedingly, have done much for the love of 
their fellow-men. But who has loved God 
more than Mary? ''She loved God more," 
says St. Ligouri, '' in the first moment of her 
life, than all the saints and angels have loved 
Him in the whole course of theirs." Conse- 
quently, as there is not and never shall be any 
angelic or human being who loves or will love 
God niore than Mary, so there is and can be 



100 FIRST REASON. 

none, excepting God alone, who loves us more 
than this our lovmg Mother. "If the love of 
all mothers for their children," says St. Liguori, 
'' and of all the saints and angels for their de- 
voted servants, were united, it would not be so 
great as the love that Mary bears to one soul 
alone." Yes, she loves us more than all the 
angels and saints united. 

Moreover, Mary loves us very much, be- 
cause w^e cost her so many pains. We are 
those children for whom, that we may have 
the life of grace, Mary suffered the extreme 
pain of sacrificing her most dear Son ; sub- 
mitting, for our sakes, to see Him expire 
before her eyes, amid the most excruciating 
torments. The Holy Word of God tells us 
that : " God so loved the world as to give His 
only-begotten Son." The seraphic doctor, St. 
Bonaventure, of the great Order of St. Francis, 
remarks, " It may be said of Mary also, that 
she so loved us as to give her only-begotten 
Son." And when did she give Him to us ? 
" She gave Him to us," says Father Nierem- 
berg, " when first she consented to His death , 
she gave Him to us, when others deserted Him 
through hatred or through fear, and she alone 
could have defended before the judges the life 



FIKST REASON. 101 

of her Son." And who can doubt that the 
words of so good a Mother would have had 
great power with such a judge as Pontius 
Pilate, to induce him not to sentence a Man to 
death Whom he knew and declared to be inno- 
cent? "But no," says St. Liguori, '' Mary 
would not utter even one word in favor of her 
Son, to prevent His death, upon which our 
salvation depended ; in fine, she gave Him to 
us again and again, at the foot of the cross, in 
those three hours when she was witnessing His 
death ; because then, at every moment, she was 
offering for us His life, with the deepest grief, 
and the greatest love for us, at the cost of great 
trouble and suffering, aiid with such firmness, 
that if the executioners had been wanting, as 
Saints Anselm and Antoninus tell us, she her- 
self would have crucified Him in obedience to 
the will of His Father, who had decreed that 
He should die for our salvation. How grate- 
ful should we be to Mary for an act of so much 
love ! for the sacrifice she made of the life of 
her Son, amid so much anguish, to obtain sal- 
vation for us all ! The Lord, indeed, rewarded 
Abraham for the sacrifice he was prepared to 
make to Him of his son Isaac ; but what can 
we render to Mary for tlie life of her Jesus, as 



102 FIRST REASON. 

she has given us a Son more noblp and beloved 
than the son of Abraham ?" 

Mary loves us f ery much, because we have 
been commended to her as children by her be- 
loved Jesns, when, before expiring, He said to 
her : " Behold thy son." These were the last 
words of her Divine Son to her. The last me- 
mentos left by beloved friends at the time of 
their departure from this valley of tears, are 
immensely valued, and the memory of them 
shall never perish. 

The Holy Mother of God incomparably ex- 
ceeds all her children in affection, even if they 
were to love her to the best of their power. 
" Mary is always more loving than her lovers," 
says Saint Ignatius the Martyr. Let us love 
her as much as St. Stanislaus Kostka, who 
loved his most dear Mother Mary so affection- 
ately, that when he spoke of her, every one 
who heard him wished also to love her. Let 
us love her as much as St. Bernard, who loved 
her to such a degree that he called her the 
" ravisher of hearts." Let us love her as much 
as St. Philip Neri, who felt consoled in merely 
thinking of Mary, and upon this account called 
her his delight. Let us love her as much as 
St. Aloysius, who burned constantly with so 



FIKST REASON. 103 

great a love of the Immaculate Mother, that as 
soon as he heard the sound of the sweet name 
of Mary, his heart kindled, and a flame, per- 
ceptible to all, lighted up his countenance. 
In fine, let us love her as much as so many 
hundreds of her devoted servants have loved 
her, who left nothing undone in order to mani- 
fest their intense love towards her. 

Let us, likewise, endeavor to commend our- 
selves to her very often during the course of 
the day, like many of her devout clients, es- 
pecially a very holy religious of the Order of 
St. Dominic, whose name was Leonard. This 
saintly man, as we read in the Chronicles of his 
Order, who was w^ont to recommend himself 
two hundred times a day to Mary, when he 
was upon the point of expiring, saw one of 
charming and majestic beauty as a queen by 
his side, who said to him : ''Leonard, do you 
wish to die and come to my Son and me?" 
'' Who are you ?" he answered. " I am the 
Mother of mercy,", she replied; "you have 
many times invoked me, and now I come to 
receive your soul ; let us go to paradise." 
'' On that same day Leonard died," says St 
Liguori, " and we hope that he followed her to 
the mansions of the blessed." 



^ 



104 FIRST REASON. 



Bernardine de Bustis says that '^Mary is 
more desirous to do us good and bestow favors 
upon ns than we are to receive them" (Mar. 1, 
serm. 5). Therefore, Blessed Albertus Mag- 
nus, of the Order of St. Dominic, wdio was 
very much devoted to Mary, applies to the 
Blessed Virgin these words of Wisdom : ''' She 
preventeth them that covet her, so that she 
first showeth herself to them." She comes to 
our aid before she is invoked. 

" Although Mary loves all men as lier chil- 
dren, yet she recognizes and loves especially 
those who most tenderly love her," says St. 
Bernard. " Ego diligentes me diligo ;" ^. ^., " I 
love those who love me" (Pro v., viii.) She her- 
self declares that she cannot but love them 
who love her. " Oh, how easy it is," cries out 
Blessed Albertus Magnus, " for those who love 
Mary to find her, and to find her full of love 
and mercy." Those happy lovers of Mary, as 
the Abbot Celles asserts, are not only loved 
but served by her. 

Mary assured St. Bridget that she was Moth- 
er not only of the just and innocent, but also 
of sinners, provided they w^ished to amend. 
When a sinner becomes truly penitent, he finds 
this good Mother of mercy more ready to em- 



FIRST REASON. 105 

brace and aid him than any earthly mother 
could be. St. Gregory the Seventh wrote thus 
to the Princess Matilda : '' Desire to cease from 
sin, and I confidently promise you that yoii 
will find Mary more tender and loving than 
any carnal mother" (L. iv., Ep. xlvii.) How 
can that sinful wretch have the presumption 
to call himself a^son of Marj^, who disgusts her 
with his wicked life ? A certain sinner once 
said to Mary: ''Show thyself a mother;" but 
she answered him : " Show thyself a son." 
"He is accursed by God who angereth his 
mother^' (Eccles., iii.) His mother — that is 
Mary — as an eminent writer remarks. " God 
curses every one who afflicts this his good 
Mother," says St. Liguori, " by his bad life or 
his wilfulness. I have said wilfulness, for 
when a sinner, although he may not have left 
his sins, makes an eflPort to leave them, and 
seeks the aid of Mary, this Mother will not fail 
to assist him and bring him to the grace of 
God." 

"The ofiice of a good mother is this," says 
St. Bernard : " If a mother knew that her two 
sons were mortal enemies, and that the one was 
plotting against the life of the other, what 
would she do but endeavor in every way to 



106 FIRST REASON. 

pacify sucli fratricide, Thns/^ says the Saint^ 
" Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother 
of man ; when she sees any one rendering him- 
self, by sin» an enemy of Jesus Christ, she can- 
not endure it, and makes every effort to recon- 
cile them. If a sinner comes with a good in- 
tention, although he may have committed all 
the sins that any mortal ever committed, the 
Holy Mother of God embraces him, and con- 
descends in a most loving manner to heal all 
the wounds of his soul. And the Divine 
Mother herself said to St. Brido^et : ' However 
great may be a man's sins, when he tui'ns to 
me, I am ready to receive him immediately ; 
neither do I consider how much he has sinned, 
but with what intention he comes ; for I do not 
disdain to anoint and. heal his wounds, because 
I am called and truly am the Mother of mercy' " 
{Rev., c. 23). 

I cannot conclude this first and most power- 
ful reason why we should be devout to the Im- 
maculate Mother, better than in the words 
with which St. Liguori concludes his second 
section on JSow Much Greater Should Be Our 
Confidence in Mary Because She Is Our 
Motfier. These are his most loving and beau- 
tiful words : '' Little children have always up- 



SECOND REASON, 107 

on their lips the word, mother, and in all dan- 
gers to which they are exposed, and in all their 
fears, they cry, mother, mother! Ah, most 
sweet Mary! Ah, most loving Mother! this is 
precisely what thou dost desire ; that we be- 
come little children, and always call upon thee 
in our dangers, and. always have recourse to 
thee, for thou wishest to aid and save us, as 
thou hast saved all thy children who have had 
recourse to thee." 

Second Reason. 

The Second Reason we shall give why we 
should be devout to the Mother of God is, be- 
cause Almighty God ordained that all graces 
should come to us through her hands. Is not 
this a most consoling thought for the devout 
clients of Mary, and for miserable sinners who 
wish to be converted ? " Nor should this ap- 
pear to any one inconsistent with sound theol- 
ogy," says St. Liguori, " since its author, St, 
Augustine, puts it forth as a general statement, 
that Mary has shared, by means of her charity, 
in the spiritual birth of all the members of the 
Church" (Lib. de Sane. Virg., cap. 6). And ac- 
cording to the same St. Liguori, a well-known 



108 SECOND REASON. 

author, whom no one will suspect of exaggera- 
tion or of fanciful and overheated devotion, 
adds that as our Saviour really formed His 
Church on Calvary, it is plain that the Blessed 
Virgin really co-operated with Him in a pecu- 
liar and excellent manner in its formation. 

''And for the same reason it may be said," 
remarks St. Liguori, " that if she brought forth 
Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, without 
pain, she did not bring forth the Body of this 
Head without pain. Hence she commenced 
upon Calvary to be, in a particular manner, 
the Mother of the whole Church. To say all 
in a few words, Almighty God, in order to 
glorify the Mother of the Redeemer, has or- 
dained that her great charity should intercede 
for all those for whom her Divine Son offered 
and paid the superabundant ransom of His 
precious Blood, in which alone is our salvation^ 
life^ and resurrection^ 

Although we are not bound to believe that 
God ordained that all graces should come to 
us through the hands of Mary, yet many Holy 
Fathers, very many renowned saints, and very 
many learned theologians, have believed it. In 
this sentiment, then, in which so many great, 
saintly, and learned men concur, there is cer- 



SECOND REASON 109 

tainly nothing opposed to the sacred dogmas 
of the Church ; but, on the contrary, it is en- 
tirely conformable to her sentiments, for in the 
public prayers approved by her, she teaches \v 
to appeal constantly to the Divine Mother, and 
to call upon her as, " Health of the Weak,^^ 
" Refuge of Sinners," " Help of Christians." 
And in the antiphon Salve Regina^ i. e.. Hail 
Holy Queen^ approved by her, and required to 
be recited every day in the year, with few ex- 
ceptions, by all the Clergy, both Regular and 
Secular, Mary is invoked as " Our life and 
our hope." Also the Church, in the Office 
which she requires to be recited on the Festi- 
vals of Mary, applying to her the words of 
Wisdom, gives us to understand that in her we 
shall find every hope, and also every grace. 
And, furthermore, she applies to her these 
words: "He that shall find me shall find life, 
and shall have salvation from the Lord." And 
again: "They that work by me shall not sin. 
They that explain me shall have life everlast- 
ing." Do not these passa*ges of Holy Writ 
prove, that in Mary we shall find all graces, 
life, and eternal salvation ? 

It is true that we receive the grace of God 
by receiving the Sacraments worthily ; and if 
10 



110 SECOND BEA80N 

we receive them unworthily, instead of being 
the cause of our salvation, or of being the 
cause of obtaining grace for us, they are rather 
the cause of our reprobation ; but Mary prays 
that we may receive them worthily, conse* 
quently it may be said, that we receive graces 
through her by means of the Sacraments. 

It may be also said that we receive the grace 
of God by prayer, but if we pray with wilful 
distractions, our prayers, instead of causing 
Almighty God to shower down His graces 
upon us, rather cause Him to withdraw them 
far from us ; but the Blessed Virgin helps us 
to pray as we ought, or to pray well ; conse- 
quently it may be still said that we receive 
grace through her. 

Let us now hear what some great saints and 
some learned men have said about this prop- 
osition: "That the Almighty ordained that 
all graces should come to us through the hands 
of Mary." "In vain," says St. Bernard, 
"would one pray to the other saints for a de- 
sired favor, if Mary did not intercede to obtain 
it for them." Thus, also, a certain writer ex- 
plains, in this connection, that passage of the 
royal prophet : " All the rich among the peo- 
ple shall entreat thy countenance" (Ps. xliv. 



SECOND REASON. Ill 

13). "The rich of that great people of God 
are the saints," remarks St. Liguori, "who, 
when they wish to obtain a favor for one of 
their clients, all recommend themselves to 
Mary, that she may obtain it for them" {Glories 
of Mary ^ chap, v., sec. 2). Justly, then, ac- 
cording to Father Suarez, do we implore the 
saints to be our intercessors with Mary, who is 
their Lady and Queen. St. Anselm, addressing 
the Blessed Virgin, says: ^'O Lady! what 
the prayers of all these saints can obtain, in 
union with thine, thou canst obtain, by thy 
intercession, without their aid" {Orat 45, ad 
S. Vir. Mar,) " But wherefore hast thou such 
power?" asks this great and learned saint. 
" Because thou alone art the Mother of our 
common Saviour, thou art the Spouse of God, 
the universal Queen of Heaven and Earth." 
" If thou dost not speak for us," says Father 
Segneri, " no saint will pray for us and aid us. 
But if thou art moved to pray for us, all the 
saints will engage to intercede for us and help 
us." 

That most illustrious Dominican, St. Thomas 
Aquinas, the prince of theologians, and most 
deservedly styled the Angel of the Schools 
(who, according to the Pontiff John the Twen- 



112 SECOND REASON. 

ty-second, shed more light on the Church than 
all other doctors), asserts that the Most Holy- 
Mother of God is '' all the hope of our salva- 
tion" {OpusciiL 7). He also says: "The Bless- 
ed Virgin is called full of grace in three ways : 
The third, in reference to its overflow- 
ing upon all men. For great it is in each 
saint if he has enough of grace for the salva- 
tion of many ; but this would be the greatest, 
if he had enough for the salvation of all men, 
and it is so with Christ and the Blessed Vir- 
gin ; for in every danger we may obtain sal- 
vation through the glorious Virgin. Hence, 
in the fourth canticle, ' a thousand bucklers,' 
that is, remedies against dangers, are said to 
hang upon her, — ' Mille clypei pendent ex ea.' 
Hence, in every virtuous work we can have 
her aid; and, tlierefore, she herself says, 'In 
me is all hope of life and of virtue ' " (Eccles., 
xxiv.) " But if the Lord has ordained, as we 
have proved,'' says St. Liguori, " that all graces 
shall pass through Mary, as a channel of mercy, 
we can, and ought ever to assert that Mary is 
our hope, by whose intercession we receive 
divine grace ; hence it is, that St. Bernard call- 
ed her the whole cause of his hope" {Glories 
of Mary y chap. 5, sec. 2). 



SECJOND REASON. 113 

An ancient father quoted by the celebrated 
Vincent Contenson, has written : " The fulness 
of grace was in Christ, as the head from which 
it flows, but in Mary, as the neck or channel 
through which it is transmitted." St. Ephrem, 
who flourished in the fourth century, says : 
" O most holy Virgin ! receive us under thy 
protection, if thou w^ilt see us saved, since we 
have no other hope of being saved but through 
thee." 

St. Bernardine says : " The abundance of 
Mary's graces is so great, that the divine in- 
tellect alone can know its extent." He also 
says : '' The graces communicated to men have 
three degrees : thus, from God to Christ, from 
Christ to Mary, from Mary to us. Such is the 
ordinary course of Providence." 

Of course we hold that Almighty God alone 
is the author of grace, which our Saviour 
merited for us, and all we maintain is, that the 
Divine Mother is the channel of mercy through 
which all graces are to pass. 

Every one will concede God has decreed 
that all graces are to pass through the hands 
of Mary in this sense, that through her w^e 
have received our Saviour, by whose merits 
alone we have obtained all graces. Even 
10* 



114 SECOND KKASON. 

a certain modern author who denies the asser- 
tion " that whatsoever w^e receive from God 
comes to ns by means of Mary," admits that 
the proposition can be understood in the fore- 
going sense, viz.: that through the Blessed 
Virgin we have received Christ, by the merits 
of Whom we have obtained all good gifts. 
Permit me here to remark that the above au- 
thor is the only one whom I could find, that 
is opposed to the proposition mentioned above. 
Let us, then, conclude this most potent rea- 
son why we should be devout to this Immac- 
ulate Mother, in the words of St. Bernard : 
" Let us strive," says he, " with all the affec- 
tions of our heart, to reverence this Divine 
Mother, Mary, since this is the will of that 
Lord who would have us receive all good from 
her hands" {Serm. de Nat, B, T.) And then 
this most devout client of the Blessed Virgin 
exhorts us, whenever we wish and ask any fa- 
vor, to recommend ourselves to her, and trust 
we shall obtain it through her intercession. 
'' For," says he, " if you do not deserve to re- 
ceive from God the favor you ask, Mary, who 
asks it in your behalf, merits to obtain it." 
Hence, he exhorts us each and all, that wliat- 
ever we offer to God, whether works or pray- 



THIRD REASON. 115 

ers, to recommend all to Mary, if we desire 
om* Lord to accept them. 

Third and Greatest Keason. 

The Third Reason which shall be brought 
forward, and, I think, the greatest, why we 
ought to practise devotion to the Most Blessed 
Virgin Mary, is, because she is the Mother of 
God, the Mother of her Creator, the Mother of 
the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the 
Mother of the Sovereign Master of the uni- 
verse, the Mother of Lliin who made heaven 
and earth, and all things in the universe, and 
the Mother of Him whom the lieavens and 
earth cannot contain! Other saints are the 
servants of God ; but Mary is His Mother, 
Think of this sublime dignity — the sublimest 
that has ever been or ever will be conferred 
upon any creature — the Mother of the great 
God who made heaven and earth, and all things 
therein. No other creature was ever raised to 
such a high ranJc. JSTeither patriarchs, nor 
prophets, nor apostles, nor martyrs, nor any of 
the saints, nor angels, nor archangels, nor 
cherubim, nor seraphim, nor principalities, nor 
dominations, nor any choirs of the blessed 



116 THIRD REASON. 

spirits who minister through eternity before 
the throne of God, ever approached so near or 
were so closely united to the Infinite Majesty of 
God. Yet some will assert that the Blessed 
Virgin is only an ordinary woman. Now, 
think of it.' That most blessed creature, in 
preference to all other pure creatures, whether 
in heaven or on earth, she who was selected 
to be the Mother of the Eternal Son of the 
Eternal God^ only an ordinary woman ? The 
idea is most horrid. 

The prayers of the saints are very powerful 
with God ; but those of His Mother are a thou- 
sand times more so. And what can be more 
natural? Would we not a thousand times 
rather grant the request of our mother than of 
any servant? 

However, some Protestants assert that Christ 
never addressed her by the title of Mother ; but 
called her " Woman." Yet the holy and in- 
spired Evangelists more than once mention 
her by the great and glorious title of "Mother 
of Jesus," and '' His Mother." See the four- 
teenth verse of the first chapter in the Acts of 
the Apostles: ''AH these were persevering 
with one mind in prayer with the women, and 
Mary the Mother of Jesus, and His brethren." 



THIRD REASON. 117 

See, also, the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth 
verses of the nineteenth chapter in the Gospel 
of St. John : " Now, there stood by the cross 
of Jesus His Mother and His Motkerh sister," 
&c. '' When Jesns, therefore, saw His Moth- 
er," &c. ''He saith to His Mother," &c. 
And, likewise, see the first verse of the second 
chapter of the same Evangelist : " And the 
third day there was a marriage in Cana of 
Galilee: and the Mother of Jesus was there." 
But, perhaps, some will still urge that at 
this marriage-feast of Cana, when the Divine 
Mother sought a miraculous supply of wine, 
these words of Christ, "Woman, what is to 
Me and to thee," intimate a refusal ; and that 
had He considered her as His Mother, He would 
not have addressed her in such harsh terms. 
But let us see what follows. She immediately 
directed the servants to obey the orders which 
she knew would be given by Him. Forthwith, 
He commanded them to fill the vases with 
water, which, when brought to the master of 
the banquet, proved to be most delicious wine. 
And now what does the term '' woman" in the 
Bible signify ? This term, according to Bloom- 
field, a Protestant commentator, signifies : '' a 
form of address which implied nothing of dis- 



118 THIRD REASON. 



J 



respect, and was employed by our Lord on the 
most affecting of all occasions,^ and when He 
especially evinced His exquisite sympathy and 
tender regard for this very parent." "The 
time for the public manifestation of His divin- 
ity," says the erudite Archbishop Kenrick of 
Baltimore, " according to the decree of His 
Father, had not yet arrived ; yet He anticipates 
it, in condescension to her." The Protestant 
Archbishop Newcome remarks : " When our 
Lord had given this gentle rebuke, with the 
authority of a prophet sent from God, and with 
a design to prevent similar interference in fu- 
ture. He suffered her request to sway with 
Him, and seems to have made the first display 
of His glorious power partly in deference to 
her." Hall, altered by Glasse, says: "He 
whose mildness and condescension never dis- 
missed a suppliant ungratified, would not frown 
on her who bare Him. He who had com- 
manded us to honor and revere our parents, 
would not himself treat His Mother with dis- 
dain." 

We do not maintain that Mary is the Mother 
of the divine nature of Christ ; all we main- 

* At the time of His Crucifixion. 



THIRD REASON. 119 

tain is, that she is simply the Mother of His 
human nature. Mary is not the Mother of 
Christ purely as God ; but she is the Mother 
of Christ who is God, and ever will be God. 
However, it was decided in the Council of Ephe- 
sus, against Nestorius, and also in that of Chal- 
cedpn, and other councils, that the Most 
Blessed Yirgin Mary really can, and should 
be called, " the Mother of God." 

And likewise, some may object from these 
words of our Saviour : " Who is My Mother," 
that it was an egregious slight to the Blessed 
Virgin. But that is not so, as the following 
context will prove, " As He was yet speaking 
to the multitudes, behold, His mother and His 
brethren stood without, seeking to speak to 
Him. And one said unto Him : Behold Thy 
Mother and Thy brethren stand without, seek- 
ing Thee. But He, answering him that told 
Him, said : Who is My mother, and w^ho are 
My brethren ? And stretching forth His hand 
tow*ards His disciples. He said : Behold My 
mother and My brethren. For whosoever shall 
do the will of My Father, who is in Heaven, 
he is My brother, and sister, and mother" (St. 
Matt. xii. 46-50). Then, when the Saviour of 
the world made use of these words : " Who is 



120 THIRD REASON. 

My Mother ?" it was not by way of slighting 
His Holy Mother, but it w^as to show that we 
are never to permit ourselves to be taken away 
from the service of Almighty God, by any in- 
ordinate affection for our earthly parents, it 
matters not how dear they may be to us. That 
which our Divine Redeemer principally re- 
garded in His Blessed Mother, was her doing 
the holy will of God. 

In the year of our Lord 428, the impious 
Nestorius raised his voice against the Divinity 
of our Saviour, and the Divine Maternity of the 
Blessed Virgin. Alarmed at this impiety, the 
Pastors of the Church convened in great num- 
bers. At the opening of the Council, St. Cyril 
delivered that most* eloquent discourse which 
excited the admiration of the venerable Prel- 
ates assembled, and which was received with 
such applause, that it was deemed worthy of 
being numbered among the acts of the Council. 
It thus begins : " It is with pleasure I behold 
the saints, invited by the glorious Mary, Mother 
of God and ever Yirgin, promptly flock hither ; 
at the sight of so many holy Fathers, joy suc- 
ceeds grief and sadness in iny soul ; for now 
is accomplished this oracle of David, 'JSehold 
how good it is for hrethren to dwell together in 



THIRD REASON. 121 

umon.^ Hailed^ therefore, be You by us, O Holy 
and Mystical Trinity I Who have assembled us 
in this temple of Mary, the Mother of God. 
Hailed be thou by us, O Mary, venerable treas- 
ure of tlie whole earth, inextinguishable lamp, 
crown of virginity, sceptre of true doctrine, in- 
dissoluble temple, dwelling of Him Whom no 
place can contain ; Mother and Yirgin, who 
art named Blessed in the goi^pels of Him who 
is come in the name of the Lord. Hail, thou 
who hast inclosed in thy holy virginal womb 
the Immense and Incomprehensible ; thou by 
whom the Holy Trinity is adored and glorified ; 
by whom the precious cross is celebrated and 
reverenced throughout the world ; by whom 
the heavens exult, the angels and archangels 
rejoice; by whom the devils fly, the tempter 
is overcome, frail nature is elevated to Heaven ; 
the creature infected with idolatry, is led to 
the knowledge of the truth ; the faithful obtain 
holy baptism, and are anointed with the oil of 
gladness / by whom all Churches have been 
founded, and nations brought to penance. 
What more shall I say ? Hail to thee by whom 
the only Son of God has enlightened those who 
sat in darkness^ and in the shades of death / 
hail to thee by whom the prophets have pre- 

11 



122 THIRD REASON. 

dieted, tlie Apostles have publislied salvation 
to the nations ; by whom the dead are resusci- 
tated, and kings reign. T\^hat man can worthi- 
ly praise the most laudable Virgin Mary ?" 

The Greeks, in their Ritual, express their 
confidence in the Immaculate Mother in the 
strongest terms. '* Most Holy Mother of God 
save us." •* Send down upon us the riches of 
Thy mercy, through the intercession of our all- 
stainless Lady, Mother of God, the ever- Virgin 
Mary."' '• AYe magnify with hymns the Moth- 
er of God, the Mother of light." " Lord Jesus 
Christ our God, through the intercession of our 
more than blessed, glorious Lady, Mother of 
God, the ever-Yirgin Mary, save us." A for- 
mulary used in the consecration of a bishop 
terminates in this manner : '^ I strictly and 
truly confess and proclaim our Lady, Mother 
of God, as having brought forth in the flesh 
one of the Trinity, Christ our God. May she 
be my aid, protection, and defence all the days 
of my life. Amen." 

We shall always conquer, in every battle 
with the wicked spirits, if we have recourse to 
Mary, by always repeating a part of that most 
efficacious prayer which precedes the Litany 
of Loretto : *' We fly to thy patronage, O Holy 



THIRD KKASON. 123 

Mother of God." Many of the Faithful, es- 
pecially the devout clients of the Immaculate 
Mother, have gained innumerable victories 
over their spiritual enemies, by having recourse 
to Mary with this short but most efficacious 
prayer. A great servant of God by this means 
always conquered her infernal enemies." 

" We cannot conceive the greatness of Mary's 
dignity in being made the Mother of God," 
says the learned Archbishop Kenrick of St. 
Louis, ''but may learn from her divinely in- 
spired lips the cause of this mysterious eleva- 
tion, which so far surpasses our limited con- 
ceptions. 'The Lord,' says she in the canticle 
with which she responded to the pious con- 
gratulations of Elizabeth, 'has regarded the 
humility of his handmaid.' It was, then, the 
humilitj'^ of Mary that in a special manner 
rendered her the object of God's complacency." 
We find that St. Bernard, when inculcating 
the necessity of this great virtue of humility, 
says of Mary : " Without humility, I am cer- 
tain that even her virginity would not have 
been acceptable to God, for although she 
pleased Him by her virginal purity, still it was 
her humility that caused her to be made the 
Mother of God." 



124 FOURTH REASON. 

Let us now bring this greatest Reason to a 
close, in these most beautiful words of St. 
Eplirein : " We fly to tliy patronage, Holy 
Mother of God ; protect and guard us under 
the wings of thy mercy and kindness. Most 
merciful God, through the intercession of the 
Most Blessed Virgin Mary, and of all angels 
and saints, have mercy on thy creature." 

Fourth Reason. 

The Fourth Reason to be assigned why we 
should practise devotion to Mary is, because 
she is, according to St. Augustine, ''the only 
Refuge of sinners;'' but all of us are sinners, 
consequently she is our Refuge. For St. John 
the Evangelist affirms: "If we say that we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the 
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He 
is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and 
to cleanse us from all iniquity. If we say that 
we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and 
His word is not in us." Yes, we are all sin- 
ners. The just man himself falls seven 
times, according to the Holy Word of God. 
Now the Most Blessed Virgin Mary always 
was, is, and always will be considered as the 



FOURTH REASON. 125 

Refuge of sinners^ by our Holy Mother, the 
Church. And she teaches us to appeal con- 
stantly to Mary, and invoke her as such. St. 
Irenseus says, that she is the ''Advocate of 
Eve." ''That is," remarks the author of the 
I^eio Month of Mary^ " that she, the Mother 
of God, is an intercessor with her Divine Son, 
for the guilty mother of mankind. Hence, St. 
John of Damascus, speaking in the person of 
the Blessed Virgin, says, ' I am a city of refuge 
for all who flee to me !' What a consolation 
for us poor sinners, to know that we have this 
powerful advocate to plead for us; that this 
city of God, of which such glorious things are 
said, is ever open to receive us, and to protect 
us within its precincts, from the just anger of 
God !" 

Father Gifolfi, in his life of Csesar de Con- 
sulibus, relates that the only son of this great 
nobleman was murdered. The perpetrator of 
the crime unknowingly took refuge in his own 
house. What did Caesar do, when he discov- 
ered that the murderer of his own beloved son 
had taken shelter under his roof? He wel- 
comed him, and gave him money and a horse, 
that he might save his life. Can we read this 
affecting instance of a true Christian's revenge 
11* 



126 FOURTH REASON. 

on the slayer of his only son, and not think of 
the Blessed Virgin the "Refuge of sinners?" 
We have murdered her only-begotten Son ; for 
it uas not the cruelty or the malice of the 
Jews, but our sins that crucified Him. 
And we have slain Mary's most dear Son, not 
once, or twice, or thrice, or four times, but 
numberless times ; for as often as we have had 
the misfortune to commit mortal sin, so often 
have we " crucified the Son of God, and made 
a mockery of Him." 

How thankful should we be to God Al- 
mighty for the mercy he has shown us in pref- 
erence to the fallen angels. Those unhappy 
spirits committed but one sin, and that only 
in thought ; and in a moment they were pre- 
cipitated from their high seats in Heaven into 
the lowest depths of hell. And we off*end our 
Creator in innumerable ways, and still He 
spares us. But were it not for Mary's media- 
tion, we might long ere this be burning in 
unquenchable flames; but she stretches forth 
her hands to receive us, and shelters us from 
the just vengeance of an offended God. '' Mary, 
indeed," says Archbishop Kenrick, of St. 
Louis, " cannot now feel grief; but her charity 
for souls redeemed by the blood of her Divine 



FOURTH REASON. 127 

Son, is so great, that slie asks for each one 
who flees to her for refuge, with all the ear- 
nestness of a mother pleading for her only 
child." 

St. Gertrude once saw Mary with her man- 
tle outspread, and under it she beheld wild 
beasts of various kinds : leopards, lions, and 
bears ; and the Blessed Yirgin, not only did 
not drive them away from her, but with a gen- 
tle hand kindly received and caressed them. 
This great Saint understood that these wild 
beasts were miserable sinners, who, when tliey 
take shelter with Mary, are received by her 
with sweetness and love. And sinners are 
not unlike wild animals, by reason of their 
beastly passions. 

St. John Damascene calls Mary, ^'the hope 
of the despairing;" and St. Ephrem, "the se- 
cure haven for the shipwrecked." " One of 
the titles by which the Holy Catholic Church 
teaches us to invoke the Divine Mother," says 
St. Liguori, " and w^hich encourages most poor 
sinners, is the title of Eefuge of sinners, with 
which we invoke her in the Litanies." 

I cannot conclude this Fourth Reason, bet- 
ter than by mentioning what St. Antoninus 
relates of a certain sinner, who, finding him- 



128 FiFra KEASON. 

self In disgrace before God, imagined that he 
was standing before the dread tribnnal of 
Christ. Satan accused hira, and Mary de- 11 
fended him. The enemy presented against 
this poor criminal a catalogue of his offences, 
which, placed in the balaiice of divine justice, 
far outweighed his good works ; but what then 
did the great Advocate of sinners do? She 
extended her kind hand and placed it in the 
other scale; it descended in favor of her sup- 
pliant, and thus it was given him to under- 
stand, that she would obtain his pardon ; and, 
indeed, after that vision, he was converted, 
and a great reformation took place in his life. 

Fifth Eeason. 

The Fifth Eeason which we shall give why 
we should be devout to the Blessed Yirgin, is, 
because she is styled by the Church of God, 
" Health of the weak ;" but all of us are weak, 
consequently she is our "Health." Every 
one of us is weak, both in body and soul. The 
infirmities of the body are very great ; they 
are the warning voices which announce to us 
the terrible sentence of death. But if a com- 
parison be instituted between them, and the 



FIFTH REASON. 129 

infirmities of the soul, they^ — the infirmities of 
the body — may be deemed only slight, or per- 
haps, it is truer to assert that there cannot be 
any comparison between them. For there is 
a great darkness in the understanding of man, 
a great weakness, and propensity to evil, in 
his will. His memory is full of empty things, 
and unmindful of his Creator ; in a w^ord, his 
who^e soul is w^eak beyond expression, to all 
that is good, and violently bent upon evil. 

" Our fever," says St. Ambrose, '^ is ava- 
rice ; our fever is lust ; our fever is luxury ; 
our fever is ambition ; our fever is anger." 
These spiritual maladies are, indeed, the only 
ones which really deserve our solicitude, be- 
cause, unless they are remedied, they bring on 
the death of the soul, and expose us to be 
buried forever in the bottomless pit, where the 
"worm dieth not, and the fire is not extin- 
guished." 

" Can we then," asks the author of the 
" New Month of Mary," speaking of the Bless- 
ed Virgin as the " Health of the weak," " for a 
moment suppose that Mary's name will not 
plead powerfully for us, when we suflfer from 
sickness, or are alarmed at the approach of 
death, for which perhaps, we may not be pre- 



130 FIFTH REASON. 

pared ? God seems to exert His omnipotence, 
in proportion to the merits of those in whose 
name it is invoked ; He will not then turn 
away from the supplication of His Holy Mo-jB| 
ther, when she asks of Him for us that health 
and strength which may be, perhaps, necessary 
for our salvation, and agreeable to the designs 

of His ever-merciful providence It is 

especially on account of Mary's influence in 
obtaining remedies for these spiritual maladies 
that the Church styles her, 'Health of the 
weak.' We may be satisfied that, much as 
her compassionate heart bleeds when she be- 
holds us suffering from corporal infirmities, 
slie is much more sorrowful when she consid- 
ers the spiritual weakness and infirmity under 
which we labor, and which is to be dreaded in 
proportion as it is not felt by ourselves." 

Although we are so extremely weak, espe- 
cially when we are about to take our depart- 
ure from this world, and at the same time, our 
infernal enemies are so very strong ; yet, let 
us always remember that God Almighty is in- 
finitely stronger, and that Mary is a thousand 
times stronger than all the devils in hell. 

Let us now bring this Fifth Reason to a 
close in these most beautiful words of the 



FIFTH REASOIsr. 131 

Abbe Barthe : " Let us then apply, witli en- 
tire confidence to the Blessed Yirgin in all 
corporal ailments wherewith God permits ns 
to be afflicted ; and let us never fail to solicit 
her intercession with the Adorable Jesus, re- 
membering these words of St. Bernard : ' God 
has given her absolute sway in Heaven and on 
earth ; He has placed in her hands our life 
and death.' Let us specially implore her for 
our last moments, and in order to make sure 
of her powerful succor at that decisive moment, 
let us 'die daily,' that is to say, let us spend 
erery day as though it were to be our last . . . 
. . . We bless thy divine Son for that ' a virtue 
goes out from thee, and heals all ;' and we be- 
seech thee to manifest it especially for us at 
that final hour when we are about to enter 
upon eternity. O sweet Virgin ! who vouch- 
safest to receive with maternal kindness the 
last sigh of him who confidently commends 
himself to thee ; grant that, at our last mo- 
ment, we may experience, in all its extent, the 
efficacy of that pious invocation of the Church. 
' Health of the Weak, pray for us,' — ' Salus 
Infirmorum, ora pro nobis.' " 



132 sixth reason. 

Sixth Eeasox. 

The Sixth Treason which we shall give for 
practising devotion to the Divine pother, is 
because she is '* Our life, our sweetness, and 
oiirhopel" Here are three reasons inchided 
in one, and this is the last reason which I shall 
give, although many others miglit be given ; 
namely, because Mary is the ** Comfortress of 
the afflicted;' '• the Gate of Heaven," "the 
Help of Christians," (fee. ; still the five Rea- 
sons which have been already adduced, and the 
one that is about to be brought forward, will 
suffice to prove that all Christians ought to be 
devout to the Most Blessed Mother of God. 

Mary is our life, because she obtains for us 
(if we ask her) pardon and full remission of all 
our sins, from her Divine Son. '*In order to 
understand aright the reason why the Holy 
Church calls Mary our life," says St. Liguori, 
" we must consider, that as the soul gives life 
to the body, so divine grace gives life to the 
soul. As Mary, then, obtains for sinners, by 
her intercession, the gift of grace, she restores 
them to life." Some may ask, if the Blessed 
Virgin had never been without grace, how 
could the Archangel Gabriel say to her that 



SIXTH REASON. 133 

elie had found it ? Now Mary certainly did 
not find it for herself, for she was always in a 
state of grace ; she was even full of grace, as 
one of the highest ambassadors of God's heav- 
enly court announced, when he saluted her in ^ 
these words : " Hail ! full of grace, the Lord 
is with thee." If, then, she did not find grace 
for herself, for whom did she find it ? Cardi- 
nal Hugo, of the Order of St. Dominic, an- 
swers, when commenting upon the above pas- 
sage, that she found it for sinners, who had 
lost it. " Let sinners, then," says this great 
and devout writer, " who have lost grace, flee 
to Mary ; with her they will certainly find it : 
and let them say, ' O Lady ! what is lost 
must be restored to him who has lost it ; this 
grace which thou hast found is not thine, thou 
hast never lost it ; it is ours, for we have lost 
it, and to us thou shouldst restore it.' " 

Mary is also our " life," because she obtains 
for us sinners the grace of perseverance. The 
Fathers of the Holy Council of Trent declared 
that final perseverance is an entirely gratuit- 
ous gift, and one that cannot be merited by us. 
Yet the great St. Augustine, one of the most 
illustrious doctors of the Church, tells us that 
all those obtain perseverance from God, who 
12 



134: SIXTH REASON, 

ask it of Him. '^ And we shall certainly ob- 
tain it," says St. Liguori, '* if, with confidence, 
we always ask it of Mary" {Glor. of Mar. ^ 
ch. 2, sec. 2). 

In order that we may be preserved in God's 
holy grace, spiritual strength is necessary to 
resist all the enemies of our eternal salvation. 
JTow, this strength can only be obtained by 
means of Mary. '' Mine is strength — Mea est 
fortitude," says she. '* God has intrusted this 
gift to my hand," says St. Liguori, '' in the 
person of Mary, that I may bestow it on my 
devoted servants." '• By me kings reign — Per 
me reges regnant." '' By me my servants 
reign, and rule their passions and their senses, 
and thus make themselves worthy of reigning 
eternally in heaven." The .Blessed Virgin is, 
to all her devout clients, that tower spoken of 
in the Holy Canticles, fortifying them, as it 
were, against the temptations of Satan. 

'' If the sun should no more rise upon the 
world," says St. Bernard, '*what would the 
world become but a chaos of darkness and 
horror?" ''Woe to those," remarks St. An- 
selm, " who turn away from the light of this 
sun ;" '* that is," says St. Liguori, '' who neg- 
lect devotion to Mary." St. Francis Borgia, 



SIXTH REASON. 135 

of the great Society of Jesus, with very great 
reason feared for the perseverance of those in 
whom he did not find an especial devotion to 
the Holy Mother of God. When, once, he in- 
terrogated some novices to what saint they 
were especially devoted, and found that some 
of them were not, in a special manner, devoted 
to Mary, he warned the novice-master to watch 
more carefully these most unfortunate reli- 
gious ; and it happened that all lost their vo- 
cation, and quitted the Order. 

Mary is our sweetness, inasmuch as she ren- 
ders death sweet to her servants. Worldly- 
minded persons desert their friends when any 
misfortune overtakes them, especially at the 
hour of death. It is not so with Mary ; she 
never abandons her devoted clients. ''For 
since that great day," says St. Liguori, ''in 
which it was the lot and grief of Mary to be 
present at the death of Jesus, her Son, who 
was the Head of the elect, she obtained the 
grace of assisting at the death of all the elect. 
Hence the Holy Church requires us to pray 
that the Blessed Virgin would especially aid 
us at the hour of our death : ' Pray for us sin- 
ners, now and at the hour of our death.' " 

Tlie great and learned St. Jerome w^rote to 



136 SIXTH REASON. 

the Yirgin Eustochium, that Mary not only 
assists her dear servants in death, but also 
comes to meet them in their passage to the 
other life, and to encourage them and accom- 
pany them to the tribunal of her most dear 
Son. And this agrees with what Mary said to 
St. Bridget, speaking of her clients when they 
are about to depart this life : '• Then I, their 
most lovino; Ladv and Mother, hasten to them 
in death, that they may have consoh\tion and 
comfort." St. Vincent Ferrer says : " Mary 
receives the souls of the dvins:. The lovins: 
Queen receives their souls under her protec- 
tion, and she herself presents them to the Judge 
— her Son — and thus procures their salvation." 
This happened to a son of St. Bridget of 
Sweden, whose name was Charles. The Saint 
feared for his eternal salvation, by reason of 
his dying in the perilous profession of a sol- 
dier, and far from her. But Mary revealed to 
her that he was saved for the love he bore her, 
in recompense of which she had assisted him 
in death, and had suggested the Christian acts 
necessary to be made at the time. The Saint, 
at the same time, saw Christ upon a throne, 
and Satan bringing two accusations against 
Mary ; the first, that she had prevented him 



SIXTH REASON. 137 

from tempting Charles at the time of his death ; 
the second, that she herself had presented his 
soul to its jndge, and thus had it saved with- 
out even giving him an opportunity to expose 
the reasons v^hy he claimed it as his own. 
Then the Saint saw the devil driven from the 
presence of the Sovereign Judge, and the soul 
of Charles taken up to heaven. 

Mary is " our hope," the hope of all, es- 
pecially of sinners. Heretics of modern times 
cannot bear the idea of styling the Divine 
Mother ''our hope." They assert that God 
alone is '' our hope," and that he who places 
his hopes in a creature is anathematized by 
the Almighty. Whosoever places his hopes in 
a creature independently of the Almighty, is 
certainly anathematized by Him, since He 
alone is the fountain-head and the disjDenser 
of every good. " Mary," the heretics tell us, 
/'is a creature; how can she be our hope?" 
" Thus say the heretics," remarks St. Liguori, 
" but notwithstanding this, the Church re- 
quires all the clergy and religious to raise their 
voices daily, and in the name of all the faith- 
ful, invoke Mary by the sweet name of our 
hope, the hope of all : ' Hail, our hope !' " "Tn 
two ways," says the Angelic Doctor, St. 
12* 



138 SIXTH REASON. 

Thomas, " can we place onr hope in a person : 
as the principal cause and as the intermediate 
cause. Those who hope for some favor from 
the king, hope for it from him as a sovereign, 
and hope for it from his minister or favorite as 
intercessor. If the favor is granted, it comes 
in the first place from the king, but it comes 
through the medium of his favorite; where- 
fore, he who asks a favor justly calls that in- 
tercessor his hope" (J)e Beat S. /S,, lib. 2). 
That man who places his hopes upon creatures, 
without dependence upon Almighty God, as 
sinners do, who, in order to obtain the favor 
and friendship of their fellow-man, are willing 
to displease the Creator who is blessed forever, 
is most assuredly cursed by God, as the Pro- 
phet Isaiah says. ''But those who hope in 
Mary," says St. Liguori, '' as Mother of God, 
powerful to obtain for them graces and life 
eternal, are blessed, and please the heart of 
God, who wishes to see that most perfect crea- 
ture honored, who, more than all men and 
angels, loved and honored Him in this world" 
{Glor, Jtf., c. 3, sec. 1). St. Basil, one of the 
greatest of the Greek fathers, and who flour- 
ished in the fourth century, teaches us that 
next to God we have no other hope than Mary, 



SIXTH REASON. 139 

and for this reason, lie calls her " after God, 
our only hope." ''St. Ephrem," says St. 
Liguori, " reflecting upon the order of Provi- 
dence in this life, by which God has ordained 
(as St. Bernard asserts, and we shall hereafter 
prove at length) that all those who are saved 
must be saved by means of Mary," thus ad- 
dresses her : " O Lady, cease not to receive 
and shelter us under the mantle of thy pi-otec- 
tion, since, after God, we have no hope but 
thee." 

St. Antoninus, of the Order of St. Dominic, 
must justly applies to the Immaculate Mother 
that passage of Wisdom : " Now all good came 
to me together with her." Since the Blessed 
Virgin is the Mother of God and the dispenser 
of every good, we may truly assert, especially 
if we are truly devout to her, that with devo- 
tion to her, we may obtain every good thing. 
Wherefore the Abbot Celles positively says : 
" He who has found Mary finds every good 
thing." 

" Let the Lord chastise me as much as seem- 
eth to Him good," says the most loving St. 
Bonaventure, " I know that He will not refuse 
Himself to those who love Him and seek Him 
with an upright heart. I will embrace Him 



140 SIXTH REASON. 

and I will not let Him go, until He hath bless- 
ed me, and He will not depart without me. 
If I cannot do any thing else, at least, I w^ll 
hide myself in His wonnds ; there I will re- 
main, and out of Himself He will not be able 
to find me. In fine," he adds, " if my Saviour, 
for my sins, drives me from his feet, I wnll cast 
myself at the feet of his Mother, and, prostrate 
there, I will not depart until she hath obtain- 
ed my forgiveness ; for this Mother of mercy 
has never failed to take pity on misery, and 
comfort the wretched who seek her aid ; and 
therefore, from compassion, she will incline 
her Son to pardon me." Let us now conclude 
this Sixth Reason in the words of Euthymius : 
" O most merciful Mother, look upon us, look 
upon thy servants, for in thee we have placed 
all our hope." 



PART THIRD. 



TRUE DEVOTION 

TO THE 

Blesscb birgin. 



Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee 
(Luke i.) These words, wherewith Mary was 
saluted by one of the greatest princes of God's 
heavenly court, contain the principal grounds 
of that devotion, which our Holy Mother, the 
Church, has always paid her. For although 
we give a proportionate degree of honor to all 
the saints of God, and implore the aid of their 
prayers, yet the Blessed Virgin, their Queen, 
is most justly honored with peculiar marks of 
distinction. However, to prevent all mistakes 
regarding this matter, we must lay it down as 
an undoubted Article of Faith, that whatsoever 
excellences we attribute to the Divine Mother, 
or whatsoever terms we may make use of to 
express the unbounded esteem and veneration 
we have for her ; we must only consider her 



142 TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 

as a pure creature, and consequently, as infin- 
itely below God, depending upon Him, and 
indebted to Him for all the supereminent gifts 
and graces she possessed in this life, and for 
the high degree of glory to which she is ex- 
alted in Heaven. Hence it is that devotion 
to her, like that of the other saints, is a rela- 
tive honor redounding effectually to terminat- 
ing entirely in God. 

In honoring Mary we honor God much 
more ; and in praising and admiring her super- 
eminent virtues, we only proclaim the infinite 
power and bounties of her Divine Maker. And 
in this, we precisely conform ourselves to the 
humble sentiments she had of herself, and lit- 
erally verify her prophecy delivered in these 
words : "For, behold from henceforth all gen- 
erations shall call me blessed ; because He 
who is mighty hath done great things unto 
me." By which words the honor and devo- 
tion which the Church of God has paid her 
throughout all ages, down to the present time, 
and will continue to pay her until time is no 
more, is precisely marked out to us. But 
take notice, she does not say that this honor 
shall be paid to her for any thing she has of 
herself; but " because He, who is mighty, hath 



TRUE DEVOTIOlSr TO THE B. VIRGIN. 143 

done great things to" her : that is, hath be- 
stowed upon her gifts and benedictions sur- 
passing all human power. Which part of the 
prophecy would not be fulfilled, if the Church, 
in honoring her, intended any thing else but 
to honor God's blessings in her. Whosoever 
pretends to rank her above pure creatures, and 
places her upon a level with her Divine Son, 
is guilty of a most horrid impiety, heresy, and 
blasphemy. 

However, we ought to be more devout to 
her than to any other angelic or human being, 
for many reasons, but especially, because she 
is the Mother of the great God who made 
heaven and earth and all things therein ; be- 
cause she is our spiritual Mother ; the channel 
of God's graces, our refuge, our health, " our 
life, our sweetness, and our hope." These 
reasons, together with some others, have here- 
tofore been given. 

The Church of God, — that Church against 
which, according to the promise of our Divine 
Saviour, hell's gates shall never prevail, — that 
Church, to the pastors of which He also prom- 
ised that the Holy Spirit would teach all truth, 
not some truths, or almost every truth, but all 
truth^ I repeat, that Church hath always held 



144 TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 

Mary in the highest veneration, and hath, in 
all ages of Christianity, and among all nations 
and tribes of the earth, most justly paid her 
the highest religious honor, and the greatest 
respect. A respect and honor inferior to the 
respect and honor which are given to God 
alone, but superior to the respect and honor 
that are given to the angels and saints in 
heaven. '' Hence it is that so many solemn 
festivals have been devoted to her in the course 
of the year," says Father Gahan, " so many 
Cathedral churches throughout Christendom 
have been dedicated to God under her patron- 
age; so many altars have been erected; so 
many Religious Orders and Confraternities 
have been instituted under the invocation of her 
name ; and so many holy doctors and learned 
writers of venerable antiquity have, as it were 
in concert, employed both their tongues and 
their pens in proclaiming her praises, and 
in recommending to posterity true devotion to 
her^ as being not only well grounded and law- 
ful in its own nature, but, also redounding 
very much to the honor and glory of God, and 
to the spiritual advantage of the faithful. This 
extraordinary respect and universal devotion 
of all ages and nations, have been foretold by 






TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 145 



the Blessed Yirgin herself about eighteen hun- 
dred years ago, in that celebrated canticle, 
Magnificat^ which she pronounced by the in- 
spiration of the Holy Ghost (Luke i.), in whicli 
she expressly prophesied, ' that all generations 
should call her blessed, because He who is 
mighty had done great things for her.' " 

True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin does 
not consist precisely in the recitation of many 
prayers in her honor every day, nor in saying 
the beads, nor in being invested with the Scap- 
ular, nor in invoking her intercession by word 
of mouth ; but it consists essentially in the im- 
itation of her holy example, in copying after 
the virtues of her most sacred life. And the 
best way to honor Mary is to honor her with 
our hearts, and in our acti-ons. It would be a 
most impious presumption to expect to obtain 
our eternal salvation by reason of our devotion 
to her, without fulfilling the essential duties of 
religion, and renouncing those detestable vices 
which, according to St. Paul, exclude from the 
kingdom of Heaven. St. Jerome tells us, that 
if we love Mary, we must seek to imitate her, 
for this is the greatest honor we can pay her. 
"The Queen of Saints," says St. Liguori, " and 
our first advocate, Mary, after she has res- 
13 



146 TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 

cued a soul from the grasp of Lucifer, and has 
united her to God, wishes her to begin to im- 
itate her example, otherwise she will not be 
able to enrich her, as she would wish, with 
her graces, seeing her so opj^osed to her in con- 
duct." 

Let no one presume to think that if he be 
devout to Mary, he can sin as much as he 
wishes, and then be saved. This would be 
making a mockery of Almighty God, and He 
wall not thus be deceived. If we desire to be 
truly devout to Mary we must strive to reform 
our lives, devoutly commend ourselves to her, 
and we must also endeavor to imitate her great 
virtues. Then let those wicked servants of 
Mary (and they are undeserving of the name), 
who think if they are devout to her they can 
sin as much as they please with impunity, 
tremble for their eternal salvation. "It is in 
vain to flatter ourselves with the notion that 
she will patronize or befriend us,'' says Father 
Gahan, " merely on account of paying her the 
tribute of a few vocal prayers, if in the interim 
w^e continue to lead a vicious, disorderly, and 
scandalous course of life, and to crucify Jesus 
Christ over again by relapsing into mortal sin. 
She is, indeed, justly styled the Eefuge of sin- 



TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 147 

ners ; but she is not the encourager, nor pro- 
tectress of incorrigible rebels and libertines, 
who persist in the habit of trampling npon the 
commandments of God and violating the sa- 
cred laws of His Church. She is the Refuge 
of sinners, but of repenting sinners, who fly 
from God's justice to the throne of grace and 
mercy with contrite and humble hearts." 

True Devotion to the Divine Mother essen-- 
tially consists in the imitation of her super- 
eminent virtues. '' Although there is little 
recorded in the Gospels of the virtues of Mary 
in particular," says St. Liguori, "yet, when 
they tell us that she was full of grace, it h 
given us to understand that she had all vir- 
tues, and all in the heroic degree." St. Thomas 
Aquinas asserts that the other saints have ex- 
celled, each in some one particular virtue, but 
that the Blessed Virgin hath excelled in all, 
and in all virtues hath been given unto us for 
an example." And St. Ambrose, who flour- 
ished in the fourth century, and one of the 
most eminent of the Latin Fathers, also says : 
^'Such was Mary, that her life alone is the 
example for all." And he afterwards adds: 
" Let the virginity and life of Mary be unto 
you as an image, in which the form of virtues 



148 TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIKGIN. 

shines forth. From thence obtain the model 

of your life what you should correct, 

what avoid, w^hat retain." 

Let us now go back to the first ages of 
Christianity, and behold how the Apostles had 
to prove, before they made any one a Chris- 
tian, that the Saviour of the world was both 
the Son of God and the Son of Mary. They 
had to relate, when they began to preach, that 
the Blessed Yirgin was always a virgin, and 
that in her state of virginity, a heavenly mes- 
senger — the Archangel Gabriel — came and sa- 
luted her, saying: ''Hail, full of grace, the 
Lord is with thee." They had also to relate 
her entire history. " And wherever the Apos- 
tles came to plant the Church," says the learn- 
ed Bishop Ullathorne, " they had to begin this 
history again. And thus Jesus and Mary 
came together into the hearts of the faithful. 
Thus the love of Jesus and Mary grew togeth- 
er in the Church. Indeed, it was impossible 
to separate them, without destroying faith in 
Jesus Himself. For if you separate Mary 
from Jesus, you deny that He is a man, and 
so you deny that He is the Man-God. And 
if you deny that Mary is the Mother of God, 
you separate Jesus from Himself, you separate 



TRUE DKVOTION TO THE B. VIEGIN. 149 

His divinity from His humanity, and thus you 
deny He is the God-Man. 

''There appears no doubt," says the author 
of the Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search 
of a Eeligion^^ ''that this worship, within the 
true bounds to w^hich all rational Catholics 
w^ould confine it" (meaning devotion to the 
Immaculate Mother), "formed a part of the 
devotions of tlie Christians, from the very first 
ages of the Church. . . . ' The Gospel of the In- 
fancy of Jesus,' a work referred to the same 
period, and which, though manifestly an im- 
posture, may, at least, be depended upon, as an 
echo of the tone prevalent among the orthodox 
of its times, in relating the circumstances which 
took place previous to our Lord's nativity, 
gives to the Virgin simply the name of Mary, 
but, immediately after that event, styles her 
the Divine Mary^ and adds, that churches 
were in those times dedicated to her honor." 

Let us now hear what some great saints and 
illustrious men, of almost every age of the 
Christian era, have said concerning the Holy 
Mother of God. St. Irenseus, who flourished 
in the second century, says: "Mary has been 

* Tliomas Moore, Esq. 
13* 



150 TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN- 

the advocate of Eve; that as men have been 
captives by one virgin, they may be freed by 
another. What the virgin Eve bound by her 
incredulity, the virgin Mary loosed by her 
faitli'^ (Book 3, ch. 3 ; b. 5, ch. 19). 

Origen, a most erudite man, who lived in 
the third century, writes as follows: '* These 
words, ' Hail, full of grace,' are not to be found 
in any other portion of Scripture ; this saluta- 
tion was reserved for Mary alone. If the 
Blessed Virgin knew that the words were ad- 
dressed to any one else, she would not have 
been alarmed at them as she was" (Homil. 6, 
171 Lxicam . 

One of the greatest of the Greek Fathers, — 
St. Athaiiasius, — who flourished in the fourth 
century, addressed her thus : '* Hear now, O 
daughter of David ; incline thy ear to our 
prayer. "We raise our cry to thee. Remem- 
ber us, O Most Holy Virgin ! and for the 
feeble eulogiums we give thee, grant us great 
gifts from the treasures of thy graces, thou 
who art full of grace. Hail Mary, full of 
grace, the Lord is with thee. Queen and 
Mother of God^ intercede for us" {Senn. An- 
7iun). In the same century we have the great 
St. Ambrose, who, in his second book, de Vir- 



TRUE DKVOriON TO THE B. VIRGIN. 151 

ginitate^ asks : " What more noble than the 
Mother of God? What more splendid than 
her whom splendor has elected?" St. Epipha- 
nius, also, in the same century, writes thus of 
her: ''Life has been introduced to the world 
by the Virgin Mary ; so that slie is at the 
same time Mother of Life and of the living" 
{Ilceres., 78). Again, he cries out : '' Succor 
me, O Mother of God ! O Mother of Mercy ! 
During my life, avert from me the attacks of 
my enemies ; and at the hour of death pre- 
serve my miserable soul, and repel the dark 
aspect of the devils. In the tremendous day 
of judgment preserve me from eternal damna- 
tion; finally, place me among the saints, and 
render me heir to the inaccessible glory of thy 
Son" {ibidem), 

St. Jerome, who flourished in the fourth and 
fifth centuries, and is allowed to have been in 
many respects one of the most learned of all 
the Latin Fathers, says : " After Mary had 
brought forth to us the Strong Infant — God — 
the curse was removed. Death came by Eve, 
life by Mary" {Ad Eustochiitm de custod, 
virginita). 

In the fifth century, likewise, St. Cyril of 
Alexandria styles the Blessed Virgin Mary '' the 



152 TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 



I 



inextingnisliable lamp which hath brought 
forth the Sun of Justice." 

St. Gregory the Great, who lived in the sixth 
century, conipares Mary, that virgin "fair and 
adorned with the glory of lier fruitfulness," to 
a very high mountain which towers above the 
angelic choirs, and reaches even to the throne 
of the Divinity." 

St. Germanus, in the eighth century, thus 
supplicates the Holy Mother of God : " Kemem- 
ber thy servants, Holy Virgin ; support their 
petitions, confirm their faith, recall the churches 
to unity, make this kingdom triumphant, cause 
peace to reign in the world, deliver.us from all 
perils, and 'obtain for us one day an eternal 
recompense" {Oral, de Deipar), The cele- 
brated and learned Alcuin also, who lived in 
the same century, thus addressed the Holy 
Virgin: "Thou art my beloved, thou art my 
joy and glory, O Virgin ! thou art the life of 
heaven, the flower of the fields, the lily of the 
world." 

In the eleventh century, St. Peter Damian, 
in his sermon on the Annunciation, says : " All 
creatures groaned and sighed .... At length 
Mary was born, and appearing in this gloomy 
and shadowy time, beautiful in her beauty, she 



TRUK DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 153 

ravished God Himself, and attracted upon her 
the eyes of the Divinity." Again, on the As- 
sumption, he says : " As the aurora announces 
the termination of night and the commence- 
ment of da}^, so Mary has dispelled the eternal 
night, and diffused upon earth the Day which 
was born of her virginity." Again, in the 
same sermon : " Mary is the terror of the devils 
in hell, and the delight of the blessed in heav- 
en." Elsewhere, he addresses her : '' How 
often dost thou appease the anger of our Judge, 
when He is on the point of punishing us for 
our offences ! All the treasures of tlie mercy 

of God are in thy hands Turn, then, to 

us, that we may come to see thee in heaven ; 
for the greatest glory we can obtain, next to 
that of seeing God, is to see thee, to love thee, 
and to be under thy protection. Ah ! gracious- 
ly hear us, since thy Son wishes to honor thee 
by granting all thy requests." 

St, Bernard, who lived in the next century, 
and w^as one of the greatest servants the Blessed 
Virgin ever had, thus addressed her : " Thou 
art that only one in whom the Saviour of the 
world found His rest, and with whom He has 
deposited all his treasures. Hence all the 
world, O Maiy? honor thy chaste w^omb, as 



154- TRUE DEVOTION TO THK B. VIRGIN". 

the temple of God, where the salvation of the 
world had its beoinniniJ:." " Mv tono^iie fails 
me," says St. Anselm, of the same centmy, 
'' because my mind, O mv Lady ! is unable to 
express my gratitude. All that is within me 
is solicitous to acknowledge thy benefits ; but 
I cannot imagine any thanks worthy of them, 
and I am ashamed to ofler thee such as are un- 
worthy'' {Orat 51). 

The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, 
who flourished in the thirteenth century, says: 
" Mary, in an ineffable manner, has surpassed 
all creatures by the superiority of her lights 
and the ardor of her love" {Opus-, de Charit.) 
Again, he says : '* The Lord is with thee. The 
Lord is with Mary in a difterent manner from 
what He is with the angels. He is with her 
as Son, with them as Lord ; so that she is 
called the Temple of God and the Sanctnary 
of the Holy Ghost" {In Exjyosit. Salut. A7igel'i). 
In the same century, the Seraphic Doctor St 
Bona venture, in one of his fervent ejaculations 
to the Holy Mother of God, thus prays: ''O 
Mary ! may my heart never cease to love thee 
nor my tongue to praise thee." 

St. Bridget, who lived in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, thus invoked the Blessed Mother of God : 



TRtTE DEVOTIOK TO THE B. VIRGIK. 155 

" O La'dy ! by the love which thou didst bear 
to Jesus, help me to love Him." The especial 
devotions which she prescribes in the rule for 
her religious, have for their object the Passion 
of Christ and honor to His Mother. 

St. Antoninus, of the order of St. Dominic, 
who flourished in the fifteenth century, thus 
beautifully inculcates the necessity of the inter- 
cession of the Blessed Virgin : " Whoever asks,'' 
says he, " and wishes to obtain graces without 
the intercession of Mary, attempts to fly with- 
out wings." St. Bernardino of Sienna, who 
also lived in the same century, makes our sal- 
vation to depend on the Divine Mother. He 
thus addresses her : " O Lady ! since thou art. 
the dispenser of all graces, and we must receive 
the grace of salvation through thy hands alone, 
then our salvation depends on thee." 

St. Thomas of Yillanova, who WTote in the 
sixteenth century, says : '^ In Mary was the 
patience of Job, the meekness of Moses, the 
faith of Abraham, the chastity of Joseph, the 
humility of David, the wisdom of Solomon, 
the zeal of Elias." St. Mary Magdalen de 
Pazzi, who lived in the same century, makes 
this beautiful ejaculation : " O Mary ! I give 
myself to thee without reserve, do thou accept 



156 TRUE DKVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 



and preserve me." And St. Philip Neri : " O 
Yirgin and Mother, grant that I may always 
remember thee." 

St. Francis of Sales, in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, thus addresses the Immaculate Mother 
of God : " O my Queen ! be my advocate with 
thy Son, Whom I dare not approach. My 
Mother, if in the other w^orld I should be so 
unhappy as not to be able to love my Lord, 
Who I know is so worthy to be loved, at 
least obtain for me that I may love Him as 
much as I can in this world. This is the grace 
I ask of thee, and from thee I hope for it." 
The following is an ejaculatory prayer of St. 
Jane de Chantal, who also lived in this age : 
" O Mary ! be graciously pleased to make me 
thy servant." 

St. Liguori, a most devout servant of Mary, 
who lived in the eighteenth century, thus ex- 
claims : " Oh, blessed is he who clings with 
love and confidence to these two anchors of 
salvation — Jesus and Mary ! He certainly 
will not be lost." Again, the same Saint 
prays : '' May we love Jesus and Mary, and 
become saints, since we can aspire and hope 
for no greater happiness than this." And he 
also says: "I would that the whole world 



i 



TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 157 

knew thee and acknowledged thee as being 
that beautiful ' Dawn' which was always illum- 
ined with divine light ; for that chosen ' Ark' 
of salvation, free from the common shipwreck 
of sin ; for that ' perfect and Immaculate Dove' 
which thy divine Spouse declared thee to be ; 
for that Enclosed garden' which was the de- 
light of God ; for that ' sealed fountain ' whose 
waters were never troubled by an enemy ; and, 
in fine, for that ' white Lily,' which thou art, 
and who, though born in the midst of the 
thorns of the children of Adam, all of whom 
are conceived in sin, and the' enemies of God, 
wast alone conceived pure and spotless, and in 
all things the beloved of thy Creator." 

In fine, let us hear what four learned and 
distinguished prelates, of our own age, say of 
Mary : 

His eminence. Cardinal Wiseman, uses the 
following most beautiful language in one of 
his late works : '' Shall He take His place in a 
double genealogy, receiving thus into Himself 
a twofold tide of corruption ; and shall there 
be any one on earth daring and high enough 
to call Himself His father." 'No,' softly 
whispered Miriam ; ' but there shall he one holy 
enough^ and humble enough^ to be worthy to 
14 



1 

re I 



158 TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. YIHGIN. 

call herself His Mother P'^ The italics are 
mine. 

Archbishop Hughes, in his sermon upon the 
Triumphs of the Catholic Church, refers thus 
most beautifully to the Blessed Virgin: "But 
there is another by which humanity is raised. 
There is one daughter of Eve — a daughter who 
was as pure in her Conception and in her na- 
ture as if she had been the first-born before the 
fall of our parents — as if she had been a child 
of her innocence, with the difference that then 
she would have been pure and immaculate by 
nature; but now she is, by tl:ie grace and pre- 
rogative of God. Look on her^ then, and 
w^atch her humble footsteps along the career 
of her after life, free from taint of sin in birth, 
and in life, or in death. She was the creature 
of God, as you are. She was not divine. She 
was human ; but she was qualified for a divine 
nature, and w^as chosen above all the daugh- 
ters of the earth. This humanity, therefore, 
is not all bad or irredeemable. There is at 
least one exception. There is that pure bright 
lily undefiled ; there is that one who has been 
fitly described by so many epithets and com- 
parisons in the waitings of the Ancient Fathers ; 
there is one on whom, while fixing your eyes, 



TRUE Di:VOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 159 

you behold the point from which the man 
who would elevate humanity must take his 
departure." 

Archbishop Kenrick, of Baltimore, com- 
menting upon these words of the Apocalypse, 
xii. 1 : '' And a great sign appeared in Heav- 
en : a woman clothed with the sun, and the 
moon under her feet, and on her head a crown 
of twelve stars,'- very elegantly remarks: 
''This woman is most correctly believed to be 
the Blessed Yirgin, since she is spoken of as 
the Mother of the Child, whom the dragon 
sought to destroy. Moses Stuart does not al- 
together object to this view, although he is 
startled at the magnificence of the description. 
In answer to the question, '^Who or what is 
represented by the woman so splendidly ap- 
parelled ?' he says : 'Not ancient Judaism . . . 
Not the Yirgin Mary simply and personally 
considered.'" "There is no impropriety in 
explaining it of the Church, with special refer- 
ence to the Virgin Mother," adds the Arch- 
bishop whom I have just quoted. "And on 
her head a crown of twelve stars." " Christ," 
remarks the Archbishop, " the sun of justice 
may be said to clothe His Mother with His own 
brilliancy. The moon may be the symbol of 



160 TEUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIEGIN. 

all earthly grandeur, which is borrowed, in- 
complete, and unstable. The Apostles, as 
twelve brilliants, in a crown, serve to increase 
the splendor of the Mother of their Lord." 

We also find that Bishop Spalding makes 
use of the following most beautiful language : 
"Hope based itself on Faith, originates and 
elicits trustful prayer to God, invoking His 
all-powerful and all-bountiful aid in onr mani- 
fold sorrows, necessities, and sins ; and it also 
inspires earnest and confident petitions to her, 
— ' Our tainted nature's solitary boast,' — who 
is the sweet Mother of our Saviour God, and 
Elder Brother, Jesus Christ ; and Avho is, by the 
fact, our Mother also, ever ready to look down 
on us with a Mother's eve, from her brirfit seat 
in the heavens, and ever prepared with a 
Mother's readiness and a Mother's undying 
love, to extend to us in our necessities and 
dangers a Mother's powerful protection, by 
efficacious intercession in our behalf with her 
Divine Son. He whom she bore, and who 
never refused her any thing on earth, will not 
surely refuse to grant her petitions in Heav- 
en" (Jntroduc. to One Hundred Short Ser.) 

If there be any Christian upon the face of 
the earth, who would presume so far as to 



TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 161 

question the utility of True Devotion to Mary, 
let him go in imagination into the City of God, 
and interrogate millions of its celestial inhab- 
itants, what it was that brought them thither, 
and forthwith they will all answer that it was 
their True Devotion to Mary. 

If there be any person who still doubts of 
the advantage of being devout to her, let him 
tremble lest he endanger the salvation of his 
immortal soul, after he hears what some great 
and learned saints have said concerning Devo- 
tion to Mary. St. Anselm says: "That he 
who is not devoted to Mary, and protected by 
her, cannot be saved ; so it is impossible that 
he should be condemned, who recommends 
himself to the Virgin, and is regarded by her 
with affection." St. Antoninus affirms the 
same thing in nearly the same words, and St. 
Liguori says : " It is impossible that a servant 
of Mary, who faithfully honors her and recom- 
mends himself to her, should be lost." How- 
ever, let every one mark well these words of this 
great client of Mary: ''When it is said that 
a devoted servant cannot be lost, ihose servants 
are not meant^ who abuse their devotion hy sin- 
ning with less fear. It is^ then^ understood 
only of those of her servants who^ with the de- 
14* 



4)1 

162 TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 

siy^e to amende faithfully honor and co7)imend 
themselves to the Mother of God. That these 
should he lost is^ I say^ morally impossihle.^^ 
(These italics are mine.) Many illustrious 
saints and learned theologians are precisely 
of the same opinion. 

Mam^ persons by not being devout to Mary 
have lost their Faith ; while thousands upon 
thousands have preserved it by reason of their 
devotion to her. Isot only has this devotion 
preserved individuals in the True Faith, but 
likewise entire nations. Take for instance the 
Irish Catliolics. They continued faithful in 
their devotion to Mary, amid many persecu- 
tions, the longest and the most cruel that were 
ever endured by any nation, on the face of 
God's earth. At the risk of losing house and 
home, and even the means of subsistence, the 
poor sons of Erin were forced to pay the min- 
isters of a different religion, while every means 
were tried to induce or compel them to em- 
brace its teachings. JSTevertheless, they re- 
mained steadfast to the Faith of their fathers, — 
the Faith delivered by the Saints. And did 
not England, Scotland, and other countries 
lose their Faith, when they gave up their devo- 
tion to Mary? May the old Isle of Saints 



TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 163 

always persevere in its great devotion to the 
Holy Mother of God ! 

Do we think, that from the fact that the 
Blessed Virgin is now exalted in the kingdom 
of her Divine Son above all the angels and 
saints, that she has forgotten her fellow-crea- 
tures on earth? God forbid that we should 
think thus ; no, she, in that blessed kingdom, 
more clearly perceives our miseries, our temp- 
tations, and the innumerable difficulties with 
which we are encompassed. If we fear to 
speak to God, before whom the spotless angels 
tremble, let us address our petitions to her. 

Let him who desires to be filled w^ith the 
Divine love, be devout to Mary ; and let him 
who wishes to be* inspired with the fear of 
God, which is "the beginning of wisdom," be 
devout to her. Let him who seeks enlighten- 
ment from his Heavenly Father, be devout to 
Mary. If you crave the forgiveness of your 
sins, be devout to her, and she will most as- 
suredly obtain remission of them from her 
Almighty Son. For he will not refuse any of 
her requests. And as the dearest of sons, He 
grants her every thing slie asks, as she was the 
best of mothers, while He here dwelt among 
the children of Adam. Let him who desires 



164 TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. YIKGIN. 

to avoid evil and do good, be at all times de- 
vout to Mary. Let him who wishes to subdue 
all his passions, and gloriously overcome all 
the temptations of the world, the rebellious 
flesh, and Satan, be devout to Mary. 

Let us say some prayers in her honor every 
day of our lives, especially the Rosary. How 
many millions of benedictions have been show- 
ered down upon those who say their beads de- 
voutly, particularly those who say them every 
day. 

Let us often during the day say the An- 
gelical Salutation, or the " Hail Mary," as it is 
commonly called. It only takes about five sec- 
onds. And there are examples of persons who, 
from the fact of saying a few " Hail Marys" 
every day, have obtained many graces. The 
recitation of it has especially helped those per- 
sons to overcome temptations against chastity. 

Let us, also, in every temptation invoke 
Jesus and Mary, by saying : '* Dearest Jesus 
and Mary, come to my aid," and we shall most 
assuredly triumph over all temptations. 

Let us get invested, if not with all the scap- 
ulars of Mary, at least with the Brown Scap- 
ular, — if we are not already clothed with this 
holy livery. Hundreds upon hundreds of 



TRUE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 165 

miracles have been wrought by means of the 
Scapular of Mount Oarmel. Persons from the 
fact of being invested with it have been pre- 
served from being burned to death ; some have 
been saved from a watery grave ; others have 
fallen from high places without being seriously 
injured; in a word, many persons have been 
preserved from death in innumerable ways, by 
means of this Scapular. Let us, also, call to 
our remembrance the promise of Mary to St. 
Simon Stock: ''that any one dying invested 
with this habit shall not suffer eternal flames." 
Of course, we are not bound to believe this 
promise as an Article of Faith, yet very many 
of the most holy and learned men of Christen- 
dom have firmly believed it; among whom 
there can be numbered several great Sovereign 
Pontiffs. 

Let us, also, strive to induce as many per- 
sons as we can to wear the miraculous medal 
of Mary. And let us remember what the 
great Cardinal Lambruschini says about it: 
" It is only to manifest truth that God employs 
prodigies," remarks he, " and I consider that 
He has wrought so many and such extraordi- 
nary miracles in favor of this renowned' medal, 
in order to authorize the devotion connected 



166 TRUE BEVOTION TO THE B. YIRGIN". 

with it,* and to extend the belief throughout 
the Church." But let us, above all, be care- 
ful to wear it ourselves, especially at the pres- 
ent time, when we are obliged to believe the 
Immaculate Conception as a Dogma of our 
Faith, considering that the truth of the opinion 
in favor of this Dogma, some time previous to 
its solemn definition, was proved by the won- 
derful vision and rapid propagation of this 
medal. 

Let us, from time to time, meditate upon the 
Passion of Christ, and the Seven Principal 
Dolors of Mary. And our Saviour promised 
His Holy Mother, as we find in Revelations of 
St. Bridget, that whosoever should piously 
commemorate and aff*ectionately compassionate 
her Dolors, and invoke her aid through tlie 
merits thereof, should not leave this world 
without having a true compunction for his 
sins. 

Let us say, from time to time, the MagnificaL 
There is scarcely any thing more pleasing to her 
than to repeat this celebrated canticle, for with 
this we praise her in the very words with 
which she herself praised the Lord. 

* The Immaculate Conception. 



TEtTE DEVOTION TO THE B. VIRGIN. 167 

Let us make it our greatest ambition to in- 
duce people to love God and Mary, and to 
propagate devotion to the Passion of Christ 
and devotion to the Blessed Virgin, both in 
public and private, as much as lies in our 
power, and if it were possible, to get the whole 
world to be devout to Jesus and Mary. 

In fine, let us often call upon all the saints 
and angels to unite with us in returning tlianks 
to the Blessed Trinity, for making Mary as 
great and as powerful as she is. 

Let us, therefore, be devout to the Holy 
Mother of God, who is our Mother also. But 
let us especially imitate her Holy virtues — the 
best way to practise devotion to her. Woe to 
those who are not devout to her. I fear for 
their eternal salvation. And if we are truly 
devout to her, that is, with a desire to amend 
our lives, faithfully honor and commend our- 
selves to her, we may feel assured that she 
will conduct us to the mansions of the blessed, 
where we shall unite with her, in company of 
all the angels and saints, in singing forever 
the triumphant praises of her Divine Son. 
Amen, 



MEMORARE. 

Mntni^mtcs of tljt fJrager. 



The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius the Ninth, by a Re- 
script of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences of 
Dec. 11, 1846, granted to all the Faithful throughout 
the world the following Indulgences : I. Indulgence 
of three hundred days every time the "Memorare" 
is recited with a contrite heart. II. A Plenary In- 
dulgence for its recitation devoutly every day in a 
month, on the ordinary conditions of Confession and 
Communion, and praying for the intentions of the 
Sovereign Pontiff. 

The Prayer, 
[authoeized translation.] 

Remember Mary, tenderest-liearted Virgin, 
how, from of old, the ear hath never heard 
that he who ran to thee for refuge, implored 
thy help, and sought thy prayers, was forsaken 
of God. Virgin of virgins! Mother, embold- 
ened by this confidence I fly to thee, to thee I 
come, and in thy presence I a weej)ing sinner 



MEMORARE. 169 

stand. Mother of the Word Incarnate ! Oh, 
cast not away my prayer ; but in thy pity hear 
and answer. Amen. 

[Here make your petition, whatsoever it may be, but 
with a firm confidence, and it will be most assuredly ^ 
heard, if it be conformable to the will of God.] 

Some persons doubt whether St. Bernard is 
the author of the above celebrated prayer, for, 
say they, it cannot be found in his works. But 
might he not be the composer of it, without 
having placed it among them ? Although we 
have no certainty of the one who composed it. 
yet this much is certain, that the opinion of 
the majority of Catholics throughout the world 
is, that St. Bernard is its composer. 

The celebrated Jew, Eatisbonne, by reason of 
saying this prayer, was converted to the Cath- 
olic faith. If a person who did not believe in 
Christianity at all was converted by the fact 
of saying it, how many heavenly benedictions 
w^ill be showered down upon the faithful, espe- 
cially the true servants of Mary who devoutly 
recite it ? Many of the most hardened sinners 
have been converted by reason of saying it, 
or having others to recite it for them ; some 
great criminals, also, have been converted, 
even when they were going to the scaftbld, or 
15 



170 MEMORARE. 

when they were about to die. As there was 
no great effusion of blood in the month of May 
or Mary, of the first year of the present inter- 
necine strife, which may be ascribed to the de- 
vout clients of the Divine ]\[other5 who will 
doubt that, if the Faithful of this once-happy 
country would unite in saying this all-power- 
ful prayer to the Immaculate Mother with the 
intention, she might obtain from her Divine 
Son— and He will not resist any of her requests 
— that the horrors of this present war may soon 
cease, the Union be again restored, or at least 
that peace may, in some way, be secured for 
both contending sections, and the people of the 
country be converted. 

A certain writer made the following remarks 
in reference to the Memorare^ and the closing 
sentence of the exhortation which accompan- 
ied it the second time it was printed. 

!3l IJrager for \\)t Countrg. 

''The Eev. Father J. M. P. Heaney, of the 
Order of St. Dominic, had the pious thought, 
some year ago, to propagate in an unobtru- 
sive way, a devotion to the ever blessed Moth- 
er Immaculate, for the special purpose of ob- 



MEMOEARE. 171 

taining peace for this country. He had print- 
ed on slips of paper the prayer, ' Memorare ' 
of St. Bernard, and accompanied it with a fer- 
vent exhortation to the faithful to recite this 
prayer, closing with the following words : 

" ' Who will doubt that, if the Faithful of 
this once happy country would unite in saying 
this all-powerful prayer to the Immaculate 
Mother with the intention, she might obtain 
from her Divine Son — and He will not resist 
any of her requests — that the horrors of this 
civil war may soon cease, the Union be again 
restored, or at least that peace may, in some 
way, be secured for both the contending sec- 
tions, and the people of the country be con- 
verted ' 

'' It was a pious thought of Father Heaney, 
It is his desire, in every way, as a true son of 
St. Dominic, to propagate among the people a 
great devotion to the Mother of our Lord. To 
turn the devotion to a purpose such as this, is 
at once an act of patriotism and of religion. 
Before this civil war broke out, we urged on 
all Catholics the duty of prayer for the coun- 
try. But, may it not be, with too many of us, 
that, with the progress of events, we have 
ceased to look to those heights — the mountains 



172 MEMOEARE. 

of the Saints — whence only help can come to 
us ? Have not some of us become accustomed 
to look too much to the merely material forces, 
in this trouble ? We thank the good Domini- 
can Friar, in the simplicity of his Apostolic 
Order, for calling our minds back to first prin- 
ciples. We will venture to repeat his words: 
' Who will doubt, that if all the faithful in 
this once happy country were to unite their 
voices and their hearts in a prayer for mercy, 
the grace of a prosperous peace might, even 
yet, be accorded to us ? Surely this is better 
than spinning theories to flatter the populace, 
or striking hands with any of the intriguers of 
iniquity.' " 

The Memovare is certainly a most holy and 
efficacious prayer. The Catholics of all ages, 
since it was composed, will unite in testifying 
to this. I know of a certain person who, by 
reason of saying it several times a day, has ob- 
tained many graces. Remember the great 
temptation from which St. Francis of Sales 
was delivered, from the fact of saying it only 
once with fervor. And let us, therefore, recite 
it at least once every day (but it must be fer- 
vently and with confidence), and we shall soon 
experience its most hallowed efi*ects. 



St. Francis de Sales' ''Devout Method of Hearing 
Mass" is appended, in order tlmt if persons wish to 
peruse this little work before the great Sacrifice of the 
Altar they can do so, and then, when the Sacrifice com- 
mences, they can turn and read their Mass-prayers. 



A DEVOUT METHOD OF 

IN UNION WITH THE SACRED PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST. 

By St. Francis de Sales. 



When the Priest comes to the foot of the Altar — say : 
*h In the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Jesus Enters the Garden of Olives. 

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God ! 
who wast pleased voluntarily to endure mortal 
terror and anguish at the view of Thy ap- 
proaching Passion, give me grace henceforth 
to consecrate all my sorrows to Thee. O God 
of my heart ! aid me to support my trials in 
union with Thy Agony, that through the mer- 
its of Thy Passion they may become profitable 
to my soul. Amen. 

15* 



174 

Prayer of Jesus in the Garden. 

At tlie Beginning of Mass — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God ! 
who wast pleased to be comforted by an angel 
in Thy dreadful Agony, grant, tlirougli the 
merits of Thy Prayer in the Garden, that Thj^ 
consoling angel may ever assist nie and mine. 
Amen. 

Jesus Prostrate in the Garden. 

At tlie Confiteor — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who in the excess of Thy 
Anguish was bathed in a sweat of blood while 
praying to Thy Father in the Garden of 
Olives, grant that I may participate in Thy 
Dolors, by sympathy, and unite bitter tears of 
repentance with Thy Tears of blood. Amen. 

Judas betrays Jesus with a Kiss. 

When the Priest Kisses the Altar — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst submit to the 
embrace of Judas, preserve me, by grace, 
from the misfortune of ever betraying Thee, 
and assist me to repay calumny and injus- 
tice with cordial charity and active kindness. 
Amen. 



DEVOUT METHOD OF HEARING MASS. 175 

Jesus is Dragged to Prison. 
When the Priest goes to the Epistle side — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst submit to be 
bound with ropes by the hands of wicked men, 
break, I beseech Thee, the chains of my sins, 
and attach the powers of my soul and body so 
closely to Thee by the bonds of charity, that 
they may never again escape from the salu- 
tary restraint of perfect submission to Thy 
adorable Will. Amen. 

Jesus Receives a Blow. 
At the Introit — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who wast conducted as 
a criminal to the house of Annas, grant that I 
may never suffer myself to be led into sin by 
the temptations of the evil spirit, or the evil 
suggestions of my fellow-creatures, but that I 
may be securely guided by Thy Divine Spirit 
in the perfect accomplishment of Thy holy 
Ordinances. Amen. 

Jesus is Denied by St. Peter. 

At the Kyrie Eleison — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst submit to be 
thrice denied in the house of Caiaphas, by the 



176 ST. FRANCIS DE SALES' 

head and prince of the Apostles, preserve me 
from the danger of evil company, that I may 
not be exposed to the misfortune of separa- 
tion from Thee. Amen. 

Jesus looks at Peter and Touches his Heart. 
At the Dominus Vobiscum — saj : 

Lord Jesus Christ! who by one glance of 
love didst melt the heart of St. Peter into a 
fountain of penitential tears, grant, by Thy 
Mercy, that I may weep for my sins, and 
never by word or deed deny Thee wha art my 
Lord and my God. Amen. 

Jesus is Conducted to the House of Pilate. 
At tlie Epistle — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who wast pleased to be 
led before Pilate, and there falsely accused, 
teach me to avoid the deceits of the wicked, 
and to profess my faith by the constant prac- 
tice of good works. Amen. 

Jesus is led to the House of Herod. 
At the Munda cor meum — say : 
Lord Jesus Christ! who didst silently en- 
dure to be again falsely accused before Herod, 
gi'ant me patience under calumny, and silence 
under outrages. Amen. 



DEVOUT METHOD OF HEARING MASS. 177 

Jesus is mocked as a Fool, and sent back to 
Pilate. 

At tlie Gospel — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst submit to be 
sent as a fool by Herod to Pilate, who, though 
enemies before, then became friends, strength- 
en me so powerfully by Thy Grace, that in- 
stead of apprehending the machinations of the 
wicked, I may learn to bear their malice as 
Thou didst, and thus render their injustice 
profitable to my soul. Amen. 

Jesus is Stripped of his Garments. 
When the Priest Uncovers the Chalice — say : 

Lord J^sus Christ ! who wast pleased to be 
despoiled of Thy garments, and most inhu- 
manly scourged for love of me, grant me grace 
to lay aside the burden of my sins by a good 
confession, and never to appear before Thee, 
despoiled of the virtues of a Christian. Amen. 

Jesus is Scourged. 

At the 0£fertory — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ! who wast pleased to be 
fastened to the pillar, and torn with stripes, 
grant me grace patiently to endure the scourges 



178 ST. FRANCIS DE SALEs' 

of Thy Fatherly Correction, and never more to 
grieve Thy Heart by my sins. Amen. 

Jesus is Crowned with Thorns. 

When the Priest Offers tlie Chalice — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst submit through 
love for me to be crowned with thorns, grant 
that my heart may be so penetrated with the 
thorns of repentance in this world, that I may 
deserve to be hereafter crowned with Thee in 
glory. Amen. 

Pilate Washes his Hands. 

When the Priest Washes his Fingers — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! Son of the living God ! 
who, although declared innocent by Pilate, 
wast subjected to the insults and outrages of 
the Jews, grant me grace to lead an irre- 
proachable life, and at the same time to main- 
tain a holy indifference to the opinions of men. 
Amen. 

Pilate says to the Jews : "Behold the Man !" 

At the Orate Fratres — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst submit to the 
derision of the Jews, and voluntarily wear the 
badges of their insolent mockery, grant that I 



DEVOUT METHOD OF HEARING MASS. 179 

may faithfully resist all emotions of vain-glory, 
and appear before Thee on the day of judg- 
ment, clothed in the sacred garment of Thy 
Humility. Amen. 

Jesus is Condemned to Death. 
At tlie Preface — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who, though the God of 
all sanctity, didst submit through love for me, 
to a most ignominious condemnation, grant me 
grace to avoid rash judgments, and strengthen 
me to bear with patience the injustice of men. 
Amen. 

Jesus Carries his Cross. 

At the Memento for the Living — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ! who didst carry Thy 
heavy cross for my salvation, grant that I may 
voluntarily embrace the cross of mortification, 
and carry it daily for Thy Love. Amen. 

Veronica wipes with a Linen the Face of Jesus. 

At the Commnnicantes — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who, on Thy way to 
Calvary, didst say to the holy women that 
wept for the love of Thee, " Weep not for Me, 
but for yourselves;" give me grace to weep 



180 

for my sins with tears of holy contrition and 
love, that will render me agreeable to Thy 
Divine Majesty. Amen. 

Jesus is Natled to the Cross. 

When the Priest makes the Sign of the Cross over the 
Chalice — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who wast nailed to the 
cross for my redemption, attaching to it, 
through Thy Sacred Flesh, my sins and the 
eternal punishment due to them ; grant me 
Thy saving Fear, that resolutely observing Thy 
holy Precepts, I may be ever attached to the 
cross with Thee. Amen. 

The Cross of Jesus is Elevated between Heaven 
AND Earth. 
At the Elevation of the Host — say : 
Lord Jesus Christ ! who wast pleased to be 
elevated on the cross and exalted above the 
earth for love of me, detach my heart, I be- 
seech Thee, from all earthly aifections, and 
elevate my understanding to the consideration 
of heavenly things. Amen. 

The Blood of Jesus Flows from his Wounds. 

At the Elevation of the Chalice — say : 
Lord Jesus Christ ! Thy Sacred Wounds are 
the inexhaustible source of all grace ; grant, 



DEVOUT METHOD OF HEARING MASS. 181 

then, that Thy Precious Blood may purify my 
soul from all evil thoughts, and prove a salu- 
tary remedy for all my spiritual miseries. 
Amen. 

Jesus Prays for all Men. 
At tlie Memento for the Dead — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst pray on the 
cross for all men, even for Thy executioners, 
grant me the spirit of meekness and patience, 
that according to Thy Precepts and Example, I 
may love my enemies, and cordially return 
good for evil. Amen. 

The Conversion of the Thief. 

At tlie Nobis Quoque Peccatoribus — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ! who didst promise the 
joys of Heaven to the penitent thief, look on 
me with eyes of compassion, and say to my 
soul at the last moment of my life, ^' This day 
shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Amen. 

The Seven Words op Jesus on the Cfioss. 

At tlie Pater Noster — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who from the cross didst 
recommend Thy Blessed Mother to the be- 
loved disciple, and the disciple to Thy Mother ; 
16 



182 ST. FRANCIS DE SALEs' 

receive me, I beseech Thee, under Thy Protec- 
tion, and grant that, amidst the snares and 
perils of this world, I may never lose the 
treasure of Thy Friendship. Amen. 

Jesus Expires on the Cross. 

At the Division of the Host — say : 
Lord Jesus Christ ! who, before expiring on 
the cross, didst commend Thy soul to Thy 
Father, grant that I may die spiritually with 
Thee now, and so confide my eternal destiny 
with confidence to Thy Hands, at the hour of 
my death. Amen. 

The Soul of Jesus Descends into Limbo. 

When the Priest puts a Particle of the Host into the 
Chalice — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who after overthrowing 
the empire of Satan, didst descend into Limbo, 
to liberate the souls imprisoned there ; apply, 
I beseech Thee, the merits of Thy Blood and 
Passion to the suff'ering souls in Purgatory, 
that being absolved from their sins, they may 
be received into Thy Bosom, and enjoy eternal 
peace. Amen 



DEVOUT METHOD OF HEARING MASS. 183 

The Conversion of Many who Witnessed the 
Death of Christ. 

At the Agnus Dei — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! the contemplation of 
Thy Torments has excited repentance in many 
hearts ; grant me, through the efficacy of Thy 
painful Sufferings and ignominious Death, per- 
fect contrition for my past offences, and the 
grace to avoid all wilful sin. Amen. 

Jesus is Buried. 

At the Communion — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who wast pleased to be 
buried in a new monument, give me a new 
heart, so that, being buried wdth Thee, I 
may attain to the glory of Thy Eesurrection. 
Amen. 

Jesus is Embalmed. 

At the Ablution — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who wast pleased to be 
embalmed and wrapped in a clean linen cloth, 
by Joseph and Nicodemus ; give me the grace 
to receive most worthily Thy Precious Body 
and Blood in the Holy Sacrament of the altar, 



184 ST. FRANCIS DE SALEs' 

with a heart embalmed with the precious oint- 
ment of Thy Virtues. Amen. 

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

After the Communion — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst triumphantly 
issue from the fast-sealed monument; grant 
that, rising from the tomb of my sins, I may 
walk in newness of life, so that when Thou 
shalt appear in glory, I may merit also to ap- 
pear with Thee. Amen. 

Jesus Appears to his Disciples. 
At the Dominns Vobiscum — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst gladden the 
hearts of Thy Blessed Mother, and Thy Apos- 
tles, by manifesting Thyself to them after Thy 
Resurrection ; grant that, since I cannot be so 
happy as to behold Thee in this mortal life, I 
may hereafter enjoy the unclouded and eternal 
vision of Thy Glory. Amen. 

Jesus Converses for Forty Days with his Disci- 
ples. 

At the Post-Communion — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ! who, after Thy Resur- 
rection, didst deign to converse for forty days 



DEVOUT METHOD OF HEARING MASS. 185 

with Thy disciples, instructing them in the 
Mysteries of onr Faith ; increase, I beseech 
Thee, my knowledge of those divine truths, 
and confirm my belief in them. Amen. 

Jesus Ascends into Heaven. 

At the Last Dominus Vobiscum — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst ascend glori- 
ously into heaven, in presence of Thy disci- 
ples; grant me so to love Thee that I may 
disregard all things created ; that I may desire 
none but eternal joys, and aspire to the posses- 
sion of Thee, as the first and best of all bless- 
ings. Amen. 

The Descent of the Holy Ghost. 

At the Priest's Blessing — say : 

Lord Jesus Christ ! who didst send the Holy 
Spirit on Thy Apostles, while engaged in unan- 
imous and persevering prayer ; purify my soul, 
I conjure Thee, that the Paraclete, finding 
therein a dwelling well pleasing to Him, may 
adorn it with His Gifts, and replenish it with 
His Consolations. Amen. 
16* 



186 ROSAEY OF THE MOST 

^At the Buggestion of some friends, we here append a method 
'^^T^^T^'S^ the Kosary, taken from a Prayer-book entitled 
' D&ilj i'rayers.'' Although it is very advisable to use this 
method, yet no one is under obligation to do so 



Before beginning the Bosary^ it is usual to say: 
* In the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 
Hail Mary, etc, 

V. Thou, O Lord, shalt open my lips. 
K. And my tongue shall declare Thy praise. 
Y. O God, come to my assistance. 
R. O Lord, make haste to help me. 
Glory be to the Father, etc. 



First Joyful Mystery. 
The Anmmciation, 
Let us contemplate in this Mystery, how the 
Angel Gabriel saluted our Blessed Lady with 
the title, '' Full of Grace," and declared unto 
her the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 

One Our Father, 

Ten Hail Marvs ^ * Whom thou didst co7iceive, 

r^ PI •' remaining ever virgin. 



BLESSED VIRGIN MAKY. 187 

Let us pray. 

O HOLY Mary, Queen of Yirgins ; through 
the most high mystery of the Incarnation of 
thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, where- 
in our salvation was begun, obtain for us, 
through thy most holy intercession, light to 
understand the greatness of the benefit He hath 
bestowed upon us, in vouchsafing to become 
our Brother, and giving thee. His own beloved 
Mother, to be our Mother also. Amen. 



Second Joyeul Mysteey. 
The Visitation. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
the Blessed Yirgin Mary, understanding from 
the angel that her cousin Saint Elizabeth had 
conceived, went with haste into the mountains 
of Judea to visit her, bearing her Divine Son 
within her womb, and remained with her 
three months. 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,^ 
One Gloria. 



* Whom tJiou didst hear with 
thee to visit St. Elizabeth. 



188 ROSARY OF THE MOST 

Let us pray. 
O HOLY Virgin, most spotless mirror of hu- 
mility ; by that exceeding charity which moved 
thee to visit thy holy cousin St. Elizabeth, ob- 
tain for lis, through thine intercession, that our 
hearts being visited by thy Divine Son, and 
freed from all sin, we may praise and give 
thanks to Him forever. Amen. 



Third Joyful Mystery. 
The Nativity. 
Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
the Blessed Virgin Mary, when the time of 
her delivery was come, brought forth our Re- 
deemer, Jesus Christ, at midnight, and laid 
Him in a manger, because there was no room 
for Him in the inns at Bethlehem. 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,* 
One Gloria. 



* Whom thou didst bring 
forth, remaining ever 
mrgin. 



Let us pray. 
O most pure Mother of God ; through thy 
Virginal and most joyful delivery, whereby 
thou gavest to the world thy only Son, our 



BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 189 

Saviour, we beseech thee obtain for us, 
through thine intercession, the grace to lead' 
such pure and holy lives in this world, that.. 
we may become worthy to sing, without ceas- 
ing, the mercies of thy Son, and His benefits 
to us, by thee. Amen. 



Fourth Joyful Mystery. 
The Presentation, 
Let. us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the day of her 
purification, presented the Child Jesus in the 
Temple, where holy Simeon, giving thanks to 
God, with great devotion received Him into 
his arms. 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,^ 
One Gloria. 



^ By thee 'presented in the 
Temjpie. 



Let us 'pray, 
O HOLY Virgin, most admirable mistress and 
pattern of obedience, who didst present in the 
Temple the Lord of the Temple, obtain for us, 
of thy blessed Son, that, with holy Simeon 
and devout Anna, we may praise and glorify 
Him forever. Amen. 



190 KOSARY OF thp: most 

Fifth Joyful Mystery. 

The Finding in the Tem^jple. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
the Blessed Virgin Mary, after having lost 
(through no fault of hers) her beloved Son in 
Jerusalem, sought Him for the space of three 
days ; and at length found Him in the Temple, 
sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing 
them, and asking them questions, being of the 
age of twelve years. 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,* 
One Gloria. 



Whom thou didst find 
in the Temple. 



Let us pray, 
O MOST Blessed Virgin, more than martyr 
in thy sufferings, and yet the comfort of such 
as are afflicted ; by that unspeakable joy, 
wherewith, thy soul was filled, when at length 
thou didst find thy well-beloved Son in the 
Temple, teaching in the midst of the doctors ; 
obtain of Him that we may so seek Him and 
find Him in His Holy Catholic Church, as never 
more to be separated from Him. Amen. 

The Salve Regina. 
Hail ! holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our 



BLESSED VIEGIN MARY. 191 

life, our sweetness, and our hope ! to thee we 
cry, poor banished sons of Eve, to thee we send 
■up our sighs, mourning, and weeping, in this 
valley of tears ; turn, then, most gracious ad- 
vocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us, and 
after this our exile is ended, show unto us tlie 
blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus ; O clement ! 
O pious ! O sweet Virgin Mary ! 

Y. Pray for us, holy Mother of God. 

R. Tliat we may be made worthy of the 
promises of Christ. 

O God, whose only-begotten Son, by His life, 
death, and resurrection, hath purchased for us 
the rewards of eternal life ; grant, we beseech 
Thee, that, pondering in our hearts these Mys- 
teries in the most holy Rosary of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they con- 
tain, and obtain what they promise ; through 
the same Christ our Lord. Amen. 



First Sorrowful Mystery. 

The Agony in the Garden. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
our Lord Jesus was so ajfflicted for us in the 
garden of Gethsemane, that His Body was 



192 EOSARY OF THE MOST 

bathed in a Bloody Sweat, which ran down in 
great drops to the ground. 
One Our Father, 



Ten Hail Marys,* 
One Gloria. 



* Who for us wast lathed 
in a sweat of blood. 



Let us pray, 
O MOST holy Yirgin, more than martyr ; by 
that ardent prayer which our beloved Saviour 
poured forth to His heavenly Father in the 
garden, vouchsafe to intercede for us, that, our 
passions being reduced to the obedience of rea- 
son, we may always, and in all things, conform 
and subject ourselves to the holy will of God. 
Amen. 



Second Sorkowful Mystery. 
The Scourging, 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
our Lord Jesus Christ was most cruelly 
scourged in Pilate's house, the number of 
stripes they gave him being about five thousand. 

One Our Father, 



Ten Hail Marys,"^ 
One Gloria. 



Who was scourged for 
our sins. 



Let us pray. 
O Mother of God. overflowing fountain of 



BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 193 

patience ; through those stripes thy only and 
most beloved Son vouchsafed to suffer for us, 
obtain of Him for us grace to mortify our re- 
bellious senses, to avoid the occasion of sin, and 
to be ready to suffer *every thing rather than 
offend God. Amen. 



Third Sorrowful Mystery 

The Crowning with Thorns. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
those cruel ministers of Satan platted a crown 
of sharp thorns, and cruelly pressed it on the 
sacred head of our Lord Jesus Christ. 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,^ 
One Gloria, 



* Who was crowned for u% 
with thorns. 



Let us pray, 

O Mother of our Eternal Prince, the King 
of Glory ; by those sharp thorns wherewith 
His sacred head was pierced, we beseech thee 
obtain, through thy intercession, that we may 
be delivered from all motions of pride, and es- 
cape that shame which our sins deserve at the 
day of judgment. Amen. 
17 



194 



EOSAEY OF THK MOST 



FouKTH Sorrowful Mystery. 

Carrying the Cross. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
our Lord Jesus Christ, being sentenced to die, 
bore with the most amazing patience the Cross 
which was laid upon Him for His greater tor- 
ment and ignominy. 

One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,^ 
One Gloria. 



* Who for U8 didst lear the 
Cross. 



Let lis pray. 

O Holy Virgin, example of patience, by the 
most painful carrying of the Cross, in which 
thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, bore the 
heavy weight of our sins, obtain for us of 
Him, through thine intercession, courage and 
strength to follow His steps, and bear our 
cross after Him to the end of our lives. Amen. 



Fifth Sorrowful Mystery. 

The Crucifixion. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
our Lord Jesus Christ, being come to Mount 



BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 195 

Calvary, was stripped of His clothes, and His 
hands and feet nailed to the Cross, in the 
presence of His most afl9.icted Mother. 



One our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,* 
One Gloria. 



* Who died for us upon the 
Gross. / 



Let us pray, 

O Holy Mary, Mother of God, as the body 
of thy beloved Son was for us stretched upon 
the Cross, so may we offer up our souls and 
bodies to be crucified with Him, and our 
hearts to be pierced with grief at His most 
bitter Passion ; and thou, O most sorrowful 
Mother, graciously vouchsafe to help us, by 
thy all-powerful intercession, to accomplish 
the work of our salvation. Amen. /Salve 
JSegina, &c., p. 190. 



First Glorious Mystery. 

The Besurrection. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
our Lord Jesus Christ, triumphing gloriously 
over death, rose again the third day, immortal 
and impassible. 



196 



ROSARY OF THE MOST 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,^ 
One Gloria. 



* Wlw rose again from the 
dead. 



Let us pray. 

O Glorious Virgin Mary, by that unspeaka- 
ble joy thou didst receive in the resurrection 
of thy Di\'ine Son, we beseech thee obtain for 
us of Him, that our hearts may never go astray 
after the false joys of this world, but may be 
forever wholly employed in the pursuit of the 
only true and solid joys of heaven. Amen. 



Second Glorious Mystery. 

The Ascension. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
our Lord Jesus Christ, forty days after His 
resurrection, ascended into heaven, attended 
by angels, in the sight, and to the great ad- 
miration of His most holy Mother and His 
holy Apostles and disciples. 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,* 
One Gloria. 



* Who now ascended into 
Heaven, 



BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 197 

Let us pray, 

O Mother of God, comforter of the afflicted, 
as thy beloved Son, when He ascended into 
heaven, lifted up His hands and blessed His 
Apostles, as He was parted from them, so 
vouchsafe, most holy Mother, to lift up thy 
pure hands to Him on our behalf, that we may 
enjoy the benefits of His blessing, and of thine, 
here on earth, and hereafter in heaven. Amen. 



Third Glorious Mystery. 

Descent of the Holy Ghost. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
the Lord Jesus Christ, being seated on the 
right hand of God, sent, as He had promised, 
the Holy Ghost upon His Apostles, who, after 
He was ascended, returning to Jerusalem, con- 
tinued in prayer and supplication with the 
Blessed Virgin Mary, expecting the perform- 
ance of His promise. 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,* 
One Gloria. 

17* 



* Who didst send the Holy 
Ghost. 



198 ROSARY OF TFIE MOST 

Let us pray, 

O Sacred Yirgin, Tabernacle of the Holy 
Ghost ; we beseech thee obtain, by thine inter- 
cession, that this most sweet Comforter, whom 
thy beloved Son sent down upon His Apos- 
tles, filling them thereby with spiritual joy, 
may teach us in ^this world the true w^ay of 
salvation, and make us to walk in the way of 
virtue and good works. Amen. 



Fourth Glorious Mystery. S 

The Assumption, 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how | 
the glorious Yirgin, twelve years after the 
resurrection of her Son, passed out of this 
world unto Him, and was by Him assumed 
into heaven, accompanied by the holy angels. 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,^ 
One Gloria. 



* Who hath called thee to 
Himself. 



Let us pray, 

O MOST prudent Yirgin, who, entering the 
heavenly palaces, didst fill the angels with 
joy, and man with hope; vouchsafe to inter- 



BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 199 

cede for us at the hour of our death, that, be- 
ing delivered from the illusions and tempta- 
tions of the devil, we may joyfully and securely 
pass out of this temporal state, to enjoy the 
happiness of eternal life. Amen. 



Fifth Glorious Mystery. 

The Coronation. 

Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how 
the glorious Yirgin Mary was, to the great 
jubilee and exultation of the whole court of 
heaven, and particular glory of all the saints, 
crowned by her Son with the brightest diadem 
of glory. 



One Our Father, 
Ten Hail Marys,^ 
One Gloria. 



* Wlio liath crowned thee in 
Heavens. 



Let us pray. 

O glorious Queen of all the heavenly host ; 
we beseech thee accept this Rosary, which, as 
a crown of roses, we offer at thy feet; and 
grant, most gracious Lady, that, by thy inter- 
cession, our souls may be inflamed with so 
ardent a desire of seeing thee so gloriously 



200 KOSARY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 

crowned, that it may never die within us, 
until it shall be changed into the happy fru- 
ition of thy blessed sight. Amen. Salve 
Regina^ (fee, p. 190. 

Let us pray. 
O God, whose only-begotten Son, by His life, 
death, and resurrection, hath purchased for us 
the rewards of eternal life ; grant, we beseech 
thee, that, pondering in our hearts these Mys- 
teries in the most holy Eosary of the Blessed 
Yirgin Mary, we may imitate what they set 
forth, and obtain what they j)romise : through 
the same our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
Amen. 






HOLY WAY OF THE CROSS. 



FORM FOK PRIVATE USE. 

In the name 'h of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. 

Blessed be the holy and undivided Trinity, 
now and for evermore. Amen. 

V. Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord. - 

R. And my mouth shall show forth Thy 
praise. 

Y. O God, come to my assistance. 

E. O Lord, make haste to help me. 

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Ghost. 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever 
shall be, world without end. Amen. 

* This Holy Way of the Cross is taken from the 
** Daily Prayers." 



202 THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

Prayer to direct the intention of the Stations, 

O Jesus, treasure of my soul, infinitely good, 
infinitely merciful, behold me prostrate at Thy 
sacred Feet! Sinner as I am, I fly to the 
arms of Thy mercy, and implore that grace 
which melts and converts, — the grace of true 
compunction. I have off'ended Thee, adorable 
Jesus! I rejDcnt; let the fervor of my love 
equal the baseness of my ingratitude. This 
Way of the Cross, grant me to off'er devoutly 
in memory of that painful journey Thou hast 
travelled for our redemption, to the Cross of 
Calvary, with the holy design to reform my 
morals, amend my life, and gain these indul- 
gences granted by Thy vicars on earth. I 
apply one for my miserable soul, the rest in 
suff*rage for the souls in purgatory, particularly 
N. IST. [Here mention the souls for whom you 
intend to apply them.] I begin this devotion 
under Thy sacred protection, and in imitation 
of Thy dolorous Mother. Let, then, this holy 
exercise obtain for me mercy in this life, and 
glory in the next. Amen, Jesus ! 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 203 

THE FIRST * STATION. 

Jesus is Condemned to Death lyy Pilate. 

V. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, 
and bless Thee. 

R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery. 

Our gracious Redeemer, after suiFering blows 
and blasphemies before Annas and Caiaphas, 
after the cruel scourging, insulting contempts, 
and bloody crown of piercing thorns, is un- 
justly condemned to death. This iniquitous 
sentence your Jesus accepted with admirable 
humility. Innocence submits to punishment 
in order to free the guilty. 

Reflect that your sins were the false wit- 
nesses that condemned Him ; your stubborn 
impenitence the tyrant that extorted from 
Pilate the bloody sentence. Propose now seri- 
ously an amendment of life, and while you 
reflect on the horrid injustice of Pilate, who 
condemns innocence, lest he should not appear 
a friend of Caesar, arraign yourself for your 
many sins of human respect ; think how often 
you have offended God for fear of displeasing 



204: THE WAY OF THE CEOSS. 

the eye of the world, and turning to your lov- 
ing Jesus, address Him rather with tears of the 
heart than with expressions of the tongue, in 
the following 

Prayer. 

O MANGLED Yictim of my sins ! O suffering 
Jesus I I have deserved those bloody scourges, 
that cruel sentence of death ; and yet Thou 
didst die for me, that I should live for Thee, 
I am convinced tliat if I desire to please men, 
I cannot be Thy servant. Let me, then, dis- 
please the world and its vain admirers. I re- 
sign myself into Thy hands. Let love take 
possession of my heart; let my eyes behold 
with contempt every thing that can alienate 
my affections from Thee ; let my ears be ever 
attentive to Tliy word ; let me, through this 
painful journey, accompany Thee, sighing and 
imploring mercy. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

Jesus CJirist Crucified^ have mercy on us. 

May the souls of the faithful departed, 
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. 

Amen. 

[^Repeat at the end of each Station^ 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 205 



THE SECOND ^^ STATION. 
Jesus receives the Cross on His Shoulders. 
Y. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christy 
and bless Thee. 

E. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

Have mercy on us, for by Thy holy Cross 
Thou hast redeemed the world. 

The Mystery. 

This second Station represents the place 
where your most amiable Redeemer is clad in 
His usual attire, after His inhuman execution- 
ers had stripped Him of the purple garment 
of derision with which He was clothed, when, 
as a visionary king, they crowned Him with 
platted thorns. The heavy burden of the 
Cross is violently placed on His mangled 
shoulders. 

Behold your gracious Saviour, though torn 
with wounds, covered with blood, a man of 
griefs, abandoned by all, — with what silent 
patience He bears the taunts and injuries with 
which the Jews insult Him. He stretches out 
His bleeding arms, and tenderly embraces the 
Cross. Eeflect with confusion on that sensi- 
18 



206 THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

tive pride which is fired with impatience at 
the very shadow of contempt, — on yonr dis- 
contented murmurs in your lightest afflictions, 
— and your obstinate resistance to the will of 
Heaven in the crosses of life, which are calcu- 
lated to conduct you, not to a Calvary of Crur 
cifixion, but to the joys of eternal glory : and 
from your heart unite in the following 

Prayer, 

Meek and humble Jesus ! My iniquity and 
perverseness loaded Thy shoulders with the 
heavy burden of the Cross. Yet I, a vile 
worm of the earth, O shameful ingratitude! 
fly even the appearance of mortification, and 
every thing which could check the violence of 
my passions ; and if I suffered, it was with a 
murmuring reluctance. I now, O Saviour of 
the world ! detest my past life, and by Thy 
grace am determined no more to offend Thee 
mortally. Let me only glory in the Cross of 
my Lord, by whom the world is crucified to 
me, and I to the world. Lay then on my 
stubborn neck the cross of true penance ; let 
me, for love of Thee, bear the adversities of 
this life, and cleave inseparably to Thee in the 
bonds of perpetual charity. 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 207 

Lord, have mercj, Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

Jesus Christ Crucified have mercy on us, 

V. The chastisement of our peace was upon 
Him. 

R. And by His bruises we are healed. 

Y. The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity 
of us all. 

E. For the wickedness of His people hath 
He struck Him. 

V. O Lord, hear my prayer. 

K. And let my cry come unto Thee. 



THE THIRD ^ STATION. 

Jesus falls the first time under the Cross, 

Y. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, 
and bless Thee. 

R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery, 
This third Station represents how our Lord 
Jesus Christ, overwhelmed by the weight of 
the Cross, fainting through loss of blood, falls 
to the groimd the first time. 



208 THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

Contemplate the unwearied patience of the 

meek Lamb, amidst the insulting blows and 
curses of His brutal executioners ; while you, 
impatient in adversity and infirmity, presume 
to complain, nay to insult the Majesty of 
Heaven, by your curses and blasphemies. 
Purpose here firmly to struggle against the 
impatient sallies of temper; and beholding 
your amiable Jesus prostrate under the Cross, 
excite in yourself a just hatred for those sins, 
which rendered insupportable that weight 
with which your Saviour, for love of you, was 
burdened, and thus address your afficted 
Jesus : 

Prayer. 

Alas, my Jesus ! the merciless violence 
of Thy inhuman executioners, the excessive 
weight of the Cross, or rather the more oppres- 
sive load of my sins, bend Thee to the earth. 
Panting for breath, exhausted as Thou art, 
Thou dost not refuse new tortures for me. 
Shall I then refuse the light burden of Thy 
commandments ; shall I refuse to do violence 
to my perverse passions and sinful attach- 
ments ; shall I relapse into those very crimes 
for which I have shed false and delusive tears ? 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 209 

O Jesus, stretch Thy holy hand to my assist- 
ance, that I may never more fall into mortal 
sin ; that I may at the hour of death secure 
the important affair of my salvation. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

Jesus Christ Grucified^ have mercy on us. 



THE FOURTH ^ STATION. 
Jem% carrying the Cross meets His most afflicted Mother. 

Y. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, 
and bless Thee. 

R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the v^orld. 

The Mystery. 

The fourth Station presents to your contem- 
plation the meeting of the desolate Mother 
and her bleeding Jesus, staggering under the 
w^eight of the Cross. 

Consider what pangs rent her soul, wlien 
she beheld her beloved Jesus covered with 
blood, dragged violently to the place of execu- 
tion, reviled and blasphemed by an ungrate- 
18* 



210 THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

ful, outrageous rabble. Meditate on her in- 
ward feelings, the looks of silent agony ex- 
changed between the Mother and the Son; 
her anguish in not being pei-mitted to ap- 
proach, to embrace, and to accompany Him 
to death. Filled with confusion at the thought 
that neither the Son's pains nor Mother's grief 
have softened the hardness of your heart, con- 
tritely join in the following 

Prayer. 

O Mary ! I am the cause of thy sufferings. 
O refuge of sinners! let me participate in 
those heart-felt pangs, which rent thy tender 
soul, when thou didst behold thy Son trem- 
bling with cold, covered with wounds, faint- 
ing under the Cross, more dead than alive! 
Mournful Mother! fountain of love! let me 
feel the force of thy grief, that I may weep 
with thee, and mingle my tears with thine, 
and thy Son's blood. O suffering Jesus ! by 
Thy bitter Passion, and the heart-breaking 
compassion of Thy afflicted Mother, grant me 
the efficacious grace of perseverance ! Mother 
of Jesus intercede for me ! Jesus, behold me 
with an eye of pity, and in the hour of my 
death receive me to the arms of Thy mercy. 



* 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 211 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 
Jesus Christ Crucified^ have mercy on us. 



THE FIFTH + STATION. 
Jesus assisted ly Simon the Cyrenean in carrying t?t€ 



V. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and 
bless Thee. 

E. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystei'y. 

The fifth Station represents Christ fainting, 
destitute of strength, unable to carry the Cross. 
His sacrilegious executioners compel Simon 
the Cyrenean to carry it, not through compas- 
siouate pity for Jesus, but lest he should expire 
in their hands, before they could glut their 
vengeance by nailing Him to the Cross. 

Consider here the repugnance of Simon to 
carry the Cross after Christ; and that you 
with repugnance, and by compulsion, carry the 
Cross which Providence has placed on your 



212 THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

shoulders. Will you spurn the love of your 
Jesus, who invites you to take up your Cross 
and follow Him ? Will you yet with shameless 
ingratitude refuse the Cross, sanctified by His 
sufferings? Offer up d.evoutly the following 

Prayer. 

O SUFFERING Jesus ! to what excess did Thy 
impious executioners' cruelty proceed. Be- 
holding Thee faint under the Cross, apprehen- 
sive of Thy death before they could complete 
their bloody intentions, they compel Simon to 
carry the Cross that Thou mightest expire on 
it in the most exquisite torture. But why 
should I complain of the cruelty of the Jews, 
or the repugnance of Simon ? Have I not 
again and again crucified Thee by my crimes ? 
Have I not suffered with fretful impatience the 
light afflictions with which Thy mercy visited 
me ? Inspire me now, my Jesus, to detest and 
deplore my sinful impatience, my ungrateful 
murmurs, and let me with all my heart cheer- 
fully accompany Thee to Mount Calvary : let 
me live in Thee, and die in Thee. Amen, 
Jesus ! 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 213 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 
Jesus Christ Crucified^ have mercy on us. 



THE SIXTH + STATION. 

Veronica presents a Tiandlcerchief to Christ, 

V. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, 
and bless Thee. 

R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery, 

The sixth Station represents the place where 
the pious Veronica, compassionating our ago- 
nizing Redeemer, beholding His sacred face 
livid with blows, and covered with blood and 
sweat, presents a handkerchief, with which 
Jesus wipes His face. 

Consider the heroic piety of this devout 
woman, who is not intimidated by the presence 
of the executioners, or the clamors of the Jews ; 
and the tender acknowledgment of Jesus. Re- 
flect here, that though you cannot personally 
discharge the debt of humanity to your Saviour, 
you can discharge it to His suffering members, 
the poor. Though you cannot wipe away the 



214 THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

blood and sweat from the face of Jesus, von 
can wipe away the tear of wretchedness from 
the eye of misery. Examine, then, what re- 
turns you have made for the singular graces 
and favors your bountiful Jesus bestowed on 
you ; and conscious of your ingratitude, ad- 
dress your injured Saviour in the following 

Prayer, 

O Jesus, grant me tears to weep for my 
ingratitude. How often have I, infatuated 
wretch, turned my eyes from Thee and Thy suf- 
ferings, to fix them on the world and its vani- 
ties ! Let me henceforth be Thine without re- 
serve. Stamp Thy image on my soul, that it 
may never admit another love. Take posses- 
sion of my heart on earth, that my soul maj^ 
take eternal possession of Thee in glory. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

Je^iLS Chrut Cnicified^ have raercy on us. 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 216 

THE SEVENTH ^ STATION. 

Jesus/alls under the Cross the second time at the gate 
of Judgment. 

V. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, 
and bless Thee. 

E. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery. 

The seventh Station represents the gate of 
Jerusalem, called the gate of Judgment, at the 
entrance of which our Saviour, through an- 
guish and weakness, falls to the ground. He 
is compelled by blows and blasphemies to rise. 

Consider your Jesus prostrate on the earth, 
bruised by His fall, and ignominiously treated 
by an ungrateful rabble. Reflect that your 
self-love and pride of preference were the 
cause of this humiliation. Implore, then, 
grace to detest sincerely your haughty spirit 
and proud disposition. It was your reiterated 
sins which again pressed Him to the ground. 
Will you then sin again, and add to the afflic- 
tions of your gracious Saviour? 



216 THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

Prayer. 

O Most Holy Redeemer ! treated with the 
utmost contempt, deprived of fame and honor, 
led out to punishment, through excess of tor- 
ments, and the weakness of Thy delicate and 
mangled body, Thou didst fall a second time 
to the earth. What impious hand has pros- 
trated Thee? Alas, my Jesus! I am that 
impious, that sacrilegious offender : my ambi- 
tious pride, my haughty indignation, my con- 
tempt of others humbled Thee to the earth. 
Banish forever from my mind, the unhappy 
spirit of pride. Teach my heart the doctrine 
of humility, so that detesting pride, vain-glory, 
and human respect, I may forever be united 
with Thee, my meek and humble Jesus. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

JesuB Christ Crucified^ have mercy on us. 



THE EIGHTH * STATION. 

JeBus consoles the Women of Jerusalem who wept over 
Him. 

V. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, 
and bless Thee. 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 217 

E. Because by Thj holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery, 

This Station represents the place where sev- 
eral derout women meeting Jesus, and be- 
holding Him wounded, and bathed in His 
blood, shed tears of compassion over Him. 

Consider the excessive love of Jesus, who, 
though languishing and half dead through the 
multitude of His torments, is nevertheless at- 
tentive to console the women who wept over 
Him. They merited that tender consolation 
from the mouth of Jesus, " Weep not over Me^ 
hut over yourselves and your children .-"' Weep 
for your sins, the sources of My aiHiction. 
Yes, O my soul! I will obey my suffering 
Lord, and pour out tears of compunction. 
Nothing more eloquent than the voice of those 
tears which flow from the horror of our sins« 
Address Him in the following 

Prayer^ 

O Jestjs, only-begotten Son of the Father! 
who will give water to my head, and a foun- 
tain of tears to my eyes, that I may day and 
night weep and lament my sins ? I humbly 
19 



218 THE WAY OF THE CROSS, 

beseech Thee by those tears of blood Thou 
didst shed for me, to soften my flinty bosom, 
that tears may plentifully flow from my eyes, 
and contrition rend my heart, this hardened 
heart, to cancel my crimes, and render me 
secure in the day of wrath and examination, 
when Thou wilt come to judge the living and 
the dead, and demand a rigorous account of 
Thy blood. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

Jesus Christ Orucified^ have mercy on us. 



THE NINTH •{. STATION. 

Jesus falls under the Gross the third time at Mount 
Calvary. 

V. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, 
and bless Thee. 

E. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery, 

This Station represents the foot of Mount 
Calvary where Jesus Christ, quite destitute of 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 219 

strength, falls a third time to the ground. 
The anguish of His wounds is renewed. 

Consider here the many injuries and blas- 
phemous derisions thrown out against Christ, 
to compel Him to rise and hasten to the place 
of execution, that His inveterate enemies 
might enjoy the savage satisfaction of behold- 
ing Him expire on the Cross. Consider that 
by your sins you daily hurry Him to the place 
of execution. Approach Him in thought to 
the foot of Mount Calvary, and cry out against 
the accursed w^eight of sin, that prostrated 
Jesus, and had long since buried thee in the 
flames of hell, if His mercy and the merits of 
His Passion had not preserved thee. 

Prayer, 

O CLEMENT Jesus! I rctum Thee infinite 
thanks, for not permitting me, ungrateful sin- 
ner, as Thou hast permitted thousands less 
criminal, to die in their sins. I, who have 
added torments to Thy torments, by heaping 
sin on sin, kindle in my soul the fire of charit3\ 
fan it with Thy continual grace into perse- 
verance, until, delivered from the body of this 
death, I can enjoy the liberty of the children 
of God, and Thy co-heirs. 



220 THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 
Jesus Christ Crucified^ have mercy on us. 



THE TENTH ^ STATION. 

Jesus is stripped of His garments and offered vinegar 
and gall to drinTc. 

V. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, 
and bless Thee. 

E. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery. 

This Station represents how our Lord Jesus 
Christ ascended Mount Calvary, and was by 
His inhuman executioners stripped of His gar- 
ments. The skin and congealed blood are 
torn off with them, and His wounds renewed. 

Consider the confusion of the modest Lamb, 
exposed naked to the contempt and derision 
of an insulting rabble. They present Him with 
vinegar and gall for a refreshment. Condemn 
here that delicacy of taste, that sensual indul- 
gence, with which you flatter your sinful body. 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 221 

Pray here for the spirit of Christian mortifica- 
tion. Think how happy you would die, if 
stripped of the world and its attachments, you 
could expire, covered with the blood and agony 
of Jesus. 

Prayer. 

SuFFEEiNG Jesus ! I behold Thee stripped of 
Thy garments, Thy old wounds renewed, and 
new ones added to the old. I behold Thee 
naked in the presence of thousands, exposed to 
the inclemency of the weather; cold, trem- 
bling from head to foot, insulted by the blas- 
phemous derisions of the spectators. Strip, 
O mangled Lamb of God ! my heart of the 
world and its deceitful affections. Divest my 
soul of its habits of sensual indulgence. Em- 
bitter the poisoned cup of pleasure, that I may 
dash it with contempt from my lips, and through 
Christian mortification arrive at Thy never- 
fading glory. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

Jesus Christ Crucified^ have rtiercy on us. 
19* 



222 THE WAY OF THE CK0S8. 

THE ELEVENTH 4^ STATION. 

Jesus is nailed to the Cross, 

V. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and 
bless Thee. 

E. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery. 

This Station represents the place where 
Jesus Christ, in the presence of His afflicted 
Mother, is stretched on the Cross, and nailed 
to it. How insufferable the torture — the nerves 
and sinews are rent by the nails. 

Consider the exceeding desolation, the an- 
guish of the tender Mother, eye-witness of this 
inhuman jDunishment of her beloved Jesus. 
Generously resolve, then, to crucify your crim- 
inal desires, and nail your sins to the Avood of 
the Cross. Contemplate the suffering resigna- 
tion of the Son of God to the will of His Father, 
while you are impatient in trifling afflictions, 
in trivial disappointments. Purpose hence- 
forth to embrace your cross with ready resig- 
nation to the will of God. 



THE WAY OF THE CKOSS. 223 

Prayer, 

O PATIENT Jesus ! meek Lamb of God ! who 
promised, " When I shall be exalted from earth 
I will draw all things to Myself," attract my 
heart to Thee, and nail it to the Cross. I now 
renounce and detest my past impatience. Let 
me crucify my flesh with its concupiscence and 
vices. Here burn, here cut, but spare me for 
eternity. I throw myself into the arms of Thy 
mercy. Thy will be done in all things. Grant 
me resignation, grant me Thy love, I desire no 
more. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

Jesus Christ Crucified^ have mercy on us. 



THE TWELFTH ^ STATION. 

Je8U8 is exalted on the Gross^ and dies. 

Y, We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and 
bless Thee. 

R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast re- 
deemed the world. 



224: THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

The Mystery, 

This Station represents the place where Jesus 
Christ was publicly exalted on the Cross, be- 
tween two robbers, who, for their enormous 
crimes were executed with the innocent Lamb. 

Consider here the confusion of your Saviour, 
exposed naked to the profane view of a blas- 
phemous multitude. Imagine yourself at the 
foot of the Cross. Behold that sacred body 
streaming blood from every part. Contem- 
plate the Divine countenance pale and languid, 
the heart throbbing in the last pangs of agony, 
the soul on the j^oint of separation ; yet chari- 
ty triumphs over His agony ; His last prayers 
petition forgiveness for His enemies, "Father 
forgive them, for they know not what they 
do." His clemency is equally extended to the 
penitent thief: "This day.shalt thou be with 
Me in Paradise." He recommends in His last 
moments His disconsolate Mother to His be- 
loved St. John. He recommends His soul to 
His heavenly Father, and bowing down His 
submissive, obedient head, resigns His spirit. 
Turn your eyes on the naked bloody portrait 
of charity. Number His wounds. Wash 
them with tears of sympathizing love. Be- 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 225 

hold the arms extended to embrace you. Love 
of Jesus ! You die to deliver us from eternal 
captivity. 

Prayer, 

O SUFFERING SoN OF GoD ! I HOW behold 
Thee in the last convulsive pangs of death, — 
Thy veins opened, Thy sinews torn, Thy hands 
and feet, O Fountain of Paradise! distilling 
blood. I acknowledge, charitable Jesus, that 
my reiterated offences have been Thy merci- 
less executioners, the cause of Thy bitter suf- 
ferings and death. Yet, God of mercy, look 
on my sinful soul, bathe it in Thy precious 
blood ! Let me die to the vanity of the world, 
and renounce its false pleasures. Thou didst 
pray, my Jesus, for Thy enemies. 1 forgive 
mine. I embrace them in the bowels of Thy 
charity. I bury my resentment in Thy wounds. 
Shelter me in the day of wrath in the sanctu- 
ary of Thy side. Let me live, let me die in 
my crucified Jesus. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

Jesus Christ Crucified^ have mercy on us. 



226 THE WAY OF THE CEOSS. 

THE THIRTEENTH 'h STATION. 

Jesus is taJceii down from the Cross. 

Y. "We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christj 
and bless Thee. 

E. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery. 

This Station represents the place where 
Christ's most sacred body was taken down 
from the Cross by Joseph and Nicodemus, and 
laid on the bosom of His weeping Mother. 

Consider the sighs and tears of the Virgin 
Mother, with what pangs she embraced the 
bloody remains of her beloved Jesus. Here 
unite your tears with those of the disconsolate 
Mother. Eeflect, that your Jesus would not 
descend from the Cross, until He consummated 
the work of redemption ; and that at His de- 
parture from, as well as at His entrance into, 
the world. He would be placed in the bosom 
of His beloved Mother. Hence learn con- 
stancy in your pious resolutions ; cleave to the 
standard of the Cross. Consider with what 
purity that soul should be adorned, which re- 



THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 227 

ceives in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucha- 
rist Christ's Most Sacred Body and Blood. 

Prayer. 

At lengthj O Blessed Virgin ! Mother of 
sorrow! thou art permitted to embrace thy 
beloved Son. But, alas ! the fruit of thy im- 
maculate womb is all over mangled in one 
continued wound. Yes, O Lord ! the infernal 
fury of the Jews has at length triumphed, yet 
we renew their barbarity, crucifying Thee by 
our sins, inflicting new wounds. Most afflict- 
ed Mother of my Redeemer, I conjure tliee by 
the pains and torments thou sufferedst in the 
common cause of Salvation, to obtain for me 
by thy powerful intercession, pardon of my 
sins, and grace to weep with a sympathizing 
feeling, thine and thy Son's afflictions. As 
often as I appear at the Holy Sacrifice of the 
Mass, let me embrace Thee, my Jesus, in the 
bosom of my heart. May I worthily receive 
Thee as the sacred pledge of my salvation. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be, &c. 

Jesus Christ Crucified^ have mercy on us. 



228 THE WAY OF THE CROSS. 

THE FOURTEENTH ^< STATION. 

Jesus is laid in the Holy Sepulchre. 

Y. We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, 

and bless Thee. 

R. "Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast 
redeemed the world. 

The Mystery. 

This Station represents Christ's sepulchre, 
where His blessed body was laid with piety 
and devotion. 

Consider the emotions of the Tirgin — her 
eyes streaming with tears, her bosom heaving 
with sighs. What melancholy, what wistful 
looks she cast on that monument where the 
treasure of her soul, her Jesus, her all, lay en- 
tombed. Here lament your want of contrition 
for your sins, and humbly adore your deceased 
Lord, who, poor even in death, is buried in 
another's tomb. Blush at your dependence 
on the world, and the eager solicitude with 
which you labor to grasp its perishable advan- 
tages. Despise henceforth the w^orld, lest you 
perish with it. 

Prayer. 

Charitable Jesus! for my salvation Thou 



ME WAY OF THE CROSS. 229 

performedst tlie painful journey of the Cross. 
Let me press the footsteps marked by Thee, 
gracious Redeemer — the paths which, through 
the thorns of life, conduct to the heavenly 
Jerusalem. AVould that Thou wert entombed 
in my heart, that being united to Thee, I 
might rise to a new life of grace, and perse- 
vere to the end. Grant me in my last mo- 
ments, to receive Thy Precious Body, as the 
pledge of immortal life. Let my last words 
be Jesus and Mary, my last breath be united 
to Thy last breath on the Cross ! that with a 
lively faith, a firm hope, and ardent love, I 
may die with Thee and for Thee; that I may 
reign with Thee for ever and ever. Amen. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy* 
Lord, have mercy. 

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be^ &c. 

Jesus Christ Crucified^ have mercy on us. 

Commendation* 

Compassionate Jesus ! behold with eyes of 
mercy this devotion I have endeavored to per- 
form, in honor of Thy bitter Passion and 
Death, in order to obtain remission of my sins, 
and the pains incurred by them. Accept of 
it for the salvation of the living, and the eter- 
20 



23C THE WAY OF TITE CE0S8. 

iial repose of the faithful departed, particularly 
for those for whom I directed it. Do not, my 
Jesus, suffer the ineffable price of Thy Blood 
to be fruitless, nor my miserable soul, ransomed 
by it, to perish. Tlie voice of Thy Blood is 
louder for mercy, than my crimes for ven- 
geance. Have mercy then, O Lord! have 
mercy, and spare me for Thy mercy's sake. 



I 

I 



PRAYER FOR INCREASE OF MISSIONARIES. 231 



^ IJrager for Mnion. 

Almighty and Eternal God, who savest all, 
and wilt have none to perish, have regard to 
the souls of those who are led astray by the 
deceits of Satan, that rejecting all errors, the 
hearts of those that err may be converted, and 
may return to the unity of Thy truth, through 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Plenary Indulgence may be obtained on receiving the 
Easter Communion, by any one who recites daily the 
prayer for Union. 

The same indulgence may be obtained at the point of 
death, by any one who daily recites the prayer, on re- 
ceiving the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, or 
if this be impracticable, by invoking the sacred Name of 
Jesus. 



% IJrager in orkr to obtain an increase of 
i)tti00ionari£0 for tijis countrg. 

QuEEjsr of Apostles, conceived without origi- 
nal stain, pray the Lord of the harvest to send 
laborers into His harvest. 

Those who recite the above prayer with " Our Father'^ 
' Hail Mary,'' and " Glory y' &c., obtain each time an in- 
dulgence of one hundred days. 



S32 



ST. LIGDORI^S I'KAYER TO B. VTRGIN. 



St. Ciguon IJrager to t\)t Bleaaeb t)irgm 
to obtain a ^appg D^atl). 

O Mary ! sweet refuge of miserable sinners, 
at the moment when my soul departs from the 
world, my sweetest mother, by the grief that 
thou didst experience, when thou wast present 
at the death of thy Son upon the cross, then 
assist me with thy mercy. Keep far from me 
my infernal enemies, and come thyself to se- 
cure my soul, and present it to my eternal 
Judge. Do not abandon me, O my Queen ! 
thou, next to Jesus, must be my comfort in 
that tremendous hour. Entreat thy Son, that 
He in His goodness will grant me the favor to 
die clasping thy feet, and to breathe out my 
soul in His sacred Wounds, saying, Jesus and 
Mary, I give you my heart and my soul. 



II 




